Yamuna River in Delhi carries drains not water: SC
Posted on: 04 Dec 2012,
We all know that Yamuna pollution is one of the biggest problems of Delhi. Every time there is an initiative by Delhi government to clean it, some more pollution is visible in reality. We have seen so many public initiatives also but without any results. We also saw for days or months together Jalpurush Rajindra Singh and his team camping at its banks, but nothing but frustration emerged.
Now there is a fresh initiative by SC. "It is a sorry state of affairs," the Supreme Court remarked today over failure of the project to clean Yamuna despite over Rs.12,000 crore being spent on it and suggested that the routing drainages of NCR region to a place outside Delhi be explored to stop release of waste in the river.
Observing that Yamuna in Delhi carries not water but drains, a bench of justices Swatanter Kumar and Madan B Lokur rapped the government authorities for not being able to clean the river despite spending thousands of crore of common man's money.
"Can we take these drains 30-40 Km outside Delhi to get it recycled by removing solid waste. It should be routed in a closed drain to a place where government gets sufficient land for the project," the bench said.
Around Rs 12,000 crore has so far been spent by all the stakeholders for cleaning the river.
The bench also said that there is a lack of co-ordination and co-operation among various government departments involved in the Yamuna cleaning project.
"It is a sorry state of affairs and Yamuna cannot be cleaned with such attitude," the bench remarked when the counsel appearing for Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) and Delhi Jal Board (DJB) made allegations against each other.
"There is lack of cooperation among public authorities and the situation of Yamuna has become worse," the bench said and called for assistance from Directors of IIT Delhi and Roorkee for the project. The Apex Court asked the Directors to be personally present on the next date of hearing on Tuesday to assist the court for proper implementation of the project.
It also asked the authorities to be concerned not only about the quality of water but also about the quantity of water flowing in the river. The bench had earlier asked the CPCB and DJB to conduct a joint inspection on rising pollution level of the river in the national capital.
The court said that it is important to take the matter to a logical end as it has been pending before it for so many years.
There are some facts which we should keep in mind. For many years now, the citizens of Delhi have been drinking a concoction of chemicals in thebelief that it was,safe and clean drinking water that was being supplied to them by the DELHI JAl BAOARD75% of Delhi's water is being supplied from the Yamuna. Delhi contributes 3,538 million liters of wastewater, mostly polluted, to the river everyday.Nearly Rs.378 crores have been spent by the government, in the last 5 years, to clean up the river. But where has the money gone? Environmentalists continue describing the Yamuna as nothing more than a drain, a "clogged sewer". Only 5% (figures submitted to the supreme court) of Delhi's waste water is treated before being released into the river. The law says all the water must be treated. The 19 major drains of Delhi contribute to 96% of the rivers pollution. Delhi constitutes only 2% of the total catchment of the yamuna basin, but contributes to 80% of the pollution load, 90% of which is domestic sewer waste. The new barrage below Okhla, discharges no water into the river bed between the nine months of October to June, and only during the monsoon is there an overflow into the main channel. All fishes have been killed in the stretch from Delhi to Hamirpur, where the Chambal flows into the Yamuna bed. The river is virtually dead on this stretch, and only drains flow into it giving off a stench as would a corpse · The river, which has mention in the Rig Veda (Mandala V Hymn 52-17) and in which thousand used to bath at Mathura on sacred occasions, now lies as a helpless relic of its past glory. The river is part of our national ethos, and is proudly mentioned in the national anthem, To kill such a pristine natural inheritance of this county is surely a grave crime. The average flow in the river has been reduced, the quality of water is now totally degraded on account of pollution and discharge of industrial and trade effluents, domestic sewage, poisonous, noxious or polluting matter to the extent that it can support no animal life and only reduced amount of plankton. Thousands of people living on the banks of the river in jhuggi colonies, who are deprived of civic amenities, are compelled to use the polluted waters of the river for domestic and drinking purposes.
River Yamuna
India consumes about 86,311 tonnes (t) of technical-grade insecticides annually to cover 182.5 million hectare of its land. Most Indian rivers pass through agricultural areas that use pesticides. This makes leaching from agricultural fields the most serious non-point — unspecified, and therefore, not measurable accurately — source of pollution to the aquatic environment. And now there’s a 1995 study that’s found traces of isomers (a carcinogenic organochlorine) in Indian rivers, including the Yamuna.
About 57 million people depend on Yamuna waters. With an annual flow of about 10,000 cubic metres (cum) and usage of 4,400 cum (of which irrigation constitutes 96 per cent), the river accounts for more than 70 per cent of Delhi’s water supplies. Available water treatment facilities are not capable of removing the pesticide traces. Waterworks laboratories cannot even detect them. Worse, Yamuna leaves Delhi as a sewer, laden with the city’s biological and chemical wastes. Downstream, at Agra, this becomes the main municipal drinking water source. Here too, existing treatment facilities are no match for the poisons. Thus, consumers in Delhi and Agra ingest unknown amounts of toxic pesticide residues each time they drink water.
The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), on its part, had found endosulphan residues — alpha and beta isomers — in the Yamuna in 1991. An earlier study by H C Agarwal (Delhi University) had traced ddt residues amounting to 3,400 nanogram per litre (ng/l). However, later cpcb studies showed reduced ddt levels. To gauge the immensity of the threat, it is necessary to trace the river’s flow — divided in five segments on the basis of hydro-geomorphological and ecological characteristics — down to its final reaches.
Delhi : Biggest Culprit
Yamuna enters Delhi at Palla village 15 km upstream of Wazirabad barrage, which acts as a reservoir for Delhi. Delhi generates 1,900 million litre per day (mld) of sewage, against an installed wastewater treatment capacity of 1,270 mld. Thus, 630 mld of untreated and a significant amount of partially treated sewage enter the river every day. The Wazirabad barrage lets out very little water into the river. In summer months especially, the only flow downstream of Wazirabad is of industrial and sewage effluents. Lesser discharge means lesser river flow and thus, greater levels of pollution. From the Okhla barrage, which is the exit point for the river in Delhi, the Agra canal branches out from Yamuna. During the dry months, almost no water is released from this barrage to downstream Yamuna. Instead, discharges from the Shahadara drain join the river downstream of the barrage, bringing effluents from east Delhi and Noida into the river. This is the second largest polluter of the river after the Najafgarh drain.
Anyhow, the recent initiative by the Supreme Court should instil a ray of hope in this matter.
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