Delhi’s Yamuna river covered in toxic froth amid Chhath Puja week- Know what’s causing it

Chhath Puja, which is one of the biggest festivals for people originating from Bihar, is currently underway, but the devotees from Delhi faced an unpredicted problem while offering their prayers and following the rituals of the festival.

The first day of Chhath Puja kicked off with devotees from Delhi offering prayers at the banks of the Yamuna river in Kalindi Kunj. Visuals from the puja site showed thick and toxic foam enveloping the surface of the river, where devotees could be seen offering their prayers on November 8.

Though the photos from the banks of Yamuna show intense pollution and mistreatment of the river ahead of the festive season, this is not the first time this situation is being witnessed by the people of Delhi, as the thick foam has been visible multiple times in the past years on the surfaces of the river.

According to the experts who have been monitoring this issue, the toxic layer of froth on the Yamuna river is the result of the presence of phosphates and surfactants in untreated sewage from Delhi, Haryana, and Uttar Pradesh, for the most part.

The rise of ammonia levels in the water also majorly disrupted the water supply of many regions in Delhi recently. Many residents were inconvenienced due to the water supply disruption and complained that they weren’t given enough notice to make preparations for the same.

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The water supply was interrupted in Delhi as the ammonia levels in the water rose to an alarming 3 ppm rate. As per the authorities, nearly 80 percent of the pollution load on the Yamuna is accounted for by the 22-kilometer stretch of the Yamuna between Wazirabad and Okhla.

It has also been evaluated that the untreated wastewater from unauthorised colonies and the poor quality of effluent discharged from Common Effluent Treatment Plants (CETPs) and sewage treatment plants (STPs) within Delhi is one of the major reasons behind why the river was covered with a blanket of toxic froth.

A political row also erupted from the frothing of the Yamuna, as BJP MP Manoj Tiwari decided to take a boat ride through the foam-covered Yamuna, alleging that the Aam Aadmi Party government wanted to hide the polluted river from Chhath Puja devotees.

The MP posted a short video, in which he claimed, “(Delhi Chief Minister) Arvind Kejriwal has been saying since 2013 that his government will make the Yamuna fit for bathing in five years. Today, Delhi's air and water both are poisonous. They did not allow Chhath celebrations on the Yamuna so that no one can see how poisonous the river has become.”