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However, the Ganges' largest tributary, the Yamuna – also one of the most polluted in the world and which provides the capital city of Delhi with 70 percent of its water needs -- was barely mentioned.
Such neglect is hardly new. Despite millions of dollars being pumped into numerous ambitious and state-funded schemes, as well as direct intervention by the Supreme Court and government agencies, the fabled Yamuna – revered by Hindus as a ‘living Goddess' -- has been reduced to a stinking drain.
According to the Central Pollution Control Board, the country's premier pollution monitoring agency, Delhi alone contributes up to 80 percent of the pollution load of the 1,370-km river. In 2010, the Indian Supreme Court even referred to the Yamuna as a "ganda nullah" ("dirty drain") rather than a dirty river.
The Yamuna plays a pivotal role in Delhi's life, providing water for nearly 57 million people who live in its floodplains. Most importantly, 92 percent of the river's waters are used to irrigate 12.3 million hectares of agricultural land that feeds a sizeable portion of India's 1.2 billion people.
Yet today, the river is impacted deeply by pollution as garbage from millions of households, municipal disposals and soil erosion due to deforestation sullies the river each day. Toxic chemical substances -- insecticides, fertilisers, pesticides – only worsen the situation.
Delhi's Lieutenant-Governor Najeeb Jung constituted a high-powered committee – consisting of scientists and ecologists – to examine all aspects of air pollution, including pollution in the Yamuna caused by industrial and sewage discharges. The committee has been tasked with suggesting steps to check pollution and to devise both long-term and short-term measures to tackle this serious issue.
Experts say the extent of pollution of the Yamuna River is so shocking that it now has a permanent thick layer of foam covering it completely. Yamuna is often also described as a ‘dead river' since its pollution has seriously inhibited the survival of fish or other marine life in its waters.
Water experts also point out that the problem of sewage not reaching a treatment plant is also what scuppers the plans to clean the Yamuna. The city depends on its 6,400-km sewerage network to convey its waste to treatment facilities. But most of the time, this network does not function, leaving the treatment plants starved for sewage.
Illegal or unauthorised colonies only worsen the situation. Almost 50 per cent of Delhi lives in such colonies, generating ‘illegal' sewage – sewage which is not transported in official sewers to official treatment plants. These colonies do not have drains to transport sewage.
The people living in these areas either defecate in the open or connect their wastewater drains to an open channel, which flows into a larger drain and eventually into the river.
"A paradigm shift is required in Delhi's approach to clean the river. The city planners must swivel their attention from the standard hardware – sewer and STP – to comprehend the linkages between water, sewage and pollution and most importantly, the need for authentic data. The science on river cleaning needs a drastic change in India," sums up Sengupta.
Unfortunately, the State Pollution Control Board as well as the Central Pollution Control Board have also failed to address Yamuna's pollution. All the past directives of the apex court have also been flagrantly ignored.
Such neglect is hardly new. Despite millions of dollars being pumped into numerous ambitious and state-funded schemes, as well as direct intervention by the Supreme Court and government agencies, the fabled Yamuna – revered by Hindus as a ‘living Goddess' -- has been reduced to a stinking drain.
According to the Central Pollution Control Board, the country's premier pollution monitoring agency, Delhi alone contributes up to 80 percent of the pollution load of the 1,370-km river. In 2010, the Indian Supreme Court even referred to the Yamuna as a "ganda nullah" ("dirty drain") rather than a dirty river.
The Yamuna plays a pivotal role in Delhi's life, providing water for nearly 57 million people who live in its floodplains. Most importantly, 92 percent of the river's waters are used to irrigate 12.3 million hectares of agricultural land that feeds a sizeable portion of India's 1.2 billion people.
Yet today, the river is impacted deeply by pollution as garbage from millions of households, municipal disposals and soil erosion due to deforestation sullies the river each day. Toxic chemical substances -- insecticides, fertilisers, pesticides – only worsen the situation.
Delhi's Lieutenant-Governor Najeeb Jung constituted a high-powered committee – consisting of scientists and ecologists – to examine all aspects of air pollution, including pollution in the Yamuna caused by industrial and sewage discharges. The committee has been tasked with suggesting steps to check pollution and to devise both long-term and short-term measures to tackle this serious issue.
Experts say the extent of pollution of the Yamuna River is so shocking that it now has a permanent thick layer of foam covering it completely. Yamuna is often also described as a ‘dead river' since its pollution has seriously inhibited the survival of fish or other marine life in its waters.
Water experts also point out that the problem of sewage not reaching a treatment plant is also what scuppers the plans to clean the Yamuna. The city depends on its 6,400-km sewerage network to convey its waste to treatment facilities. But most of the time, this network does not function, leaving the treatment plants starved for sewage.
Illegal or unauthorised colonies only worsen the situation. Almost 50 per cent of Delhi lives in such colonies, generating ‘illegal' sewage – sewage which is not transported in official sewers to official treatment plants. These colonies do not have drains to transport sewage.
The people living in these areas either defecate in the open or connect their wastewater drains to an open channel, which flows into a larger drain and eventually into the river.
"A paradigm shift is required in Delhi's approach to clean the river. The city planners must swivel their attention from the standard hardware – sewer and STP – to comprehend the linkages between water, sewage and pollution and most importantly, the need for authentic data. The science on river cleaning needs a drastic change in India," sums up Sengupta.
Unfortunately, the State Pollution Control Board as well as the Central Pollution Control Board have also failed to address Yamuna's pollution. All the past directives of the apex court have also been flagrantly ignored.
