1500 cr sinks in Yamuna muck

NEW DELHI: In the past decade, nearly Rs1,500 crore of taxpayers’ money has been poured into cleaning the Yamuna. Yet, the river is today twice as polluted as it was 10 years ago. These are the findings of a report, ‘Sewage Canal — How to Clean the Yamuna’, issued by the Centre of Science and Environment.

“The Yamuna is relatively clean till the time it enters Delhi,” a portion of the article reads. “But when it leaves, the river has been transformed into a sewer.”

The report points out that the biochemical oxygen demand load, an indicator of pollution, has more than doubled in the Yamuna between 1993 and 2005. Wastewater discharge has also doubled during the period.

The reasons for the spike in pollution are simple enough — sewage treatment plants are never used and treated effluents are discharged into wastewater drains leading to the river. This has caused treated and untreated sewage to mix and augment pollution. In addition, the Yamuna itself does not have the minimum flow required of rivers to dilute waste flowing into them.

Experts blame Delhi’s stupendous growth. The mushrooming of unauthorised colonies and slums along the riverbed have not helped the cause. While the Delhi Jal Board does supply slums with water, most city planners refuse to take them into consideration while drawing up plans for sewage disposal.