River Yamuna
This is a collection of newspaper articles selected for the excellence of their content. |
Contents |
Yamuna: The state of the river/ Pollution
6,500cr and 19yrs later, Yamuna dirtier than ever/ Clean-Up Plan Flops, SC Review Today
By Neha Lalchandani 2013/03/11
New Delhi: [In 1994?] the Supreme Court first scrutinized pollution in the Yamuna. Innumerable orders later, Yamuna is dirtier than ever with a mind-numbing Rs 6,500 crore spent to clean the river and the latest plan — interceptor sewers — going
On Monday, when SC reviews Yamuna’s pollution, it could be back to the drawing board. Six years after the Delhi Jal Board proposed interceptor sewers to treat sewage before it flows into major drains, just Rs 51 crore of the Rs 1,963 crore scheme has been spent.
Worse, it is not even clear if the measure that was to improve water quality by 2010 will actually work in light of the rapid growth of unauthorized colonies discharging sewage into the river, an issue flagged even in 2007 by an official committee that approved the interceptor proposal.
The committee had warned that 1,432 unauthorized colonies were the nub of the problem. By 2012, their number had jumped to 1,639. Although these colonies have been promised regularization, drainage and sewers are years away. In 2007, 517 of 567 unauthorized regularized colonies had sewers. The number grew by just six in the next five years. DJB says it is tough to provide sewerage in such densely populated colonies where they have barely any road space for their work.
A report submitted to the court by an inspection team that included amicus curiae Ranjit Kumar as recently as November last year called for sewage connections to all new colonies, whether authorized or not.
It pointed out that Delhi’s 17 sewage treatment plants (STPs) have a capacity of 2,460 MGD against utilization of 1,558 MGD. Delhi’s sewage generation is around 3,800 MGD.
THROWING MONEY IN THE RIVER
6,500cr spent by Delhi, UP and Haryana to clean Yamuna. This includes central funds. No improvement in water quality in past 8 yrs Only 51cr of 1,963cr sanctioned for interceptor drains spent. Scheme proposed in 2007, was to deliver results by 2010 Number of unauthorized colonies has jumped from 1,432 in 2007 to 1,639 in 2012
Only 55% of Delhi’s population served by sewer system
Delhi’s installed sewage treatment capacity is 2,460 MLD. Sewage generated is 3,800 MLD. But just 63% of installed capacity is being used
City’s biggest drain, Najafgarh, discharges 2,064 MLD. Only 30% is treated.
Worse, treated sewage is again mixed with waste
SC-mandated team inspected 4 sewage treatment plants in November 2012.
All four were deficient
Heavy metals in city’s drinking water
New Delhi:Delhi’s drinking water is contaminated with tonnes of industrial waste. Industries located upstream of the Yamuna have been found to be discharging untreated waste into the river, leading to the presence of heavy metals in water that is picked up at Wazirabad to meet the city’s drinking water needs.
Manoj Misra of the Yamuna Jiye Abhiyan had water from the Dhanura Escape — a channel that empties into the Yamuna — tested at a laboratory in Gwalior and found that the levels of chromium, lead and iron were higher than permissible. “While chromium was 0.13 mg/l against 0.05 mg/l, lead was 0.035 mg/l against 0.01mg/l and iron was 3.51mg/l against a permissible 0.1 mg/l. The presence of heavy metals is even more problematic since the treatment plants in Delhi are not equipped to detect or treat them,” said Misra.
Pollution from industries in Haryana, especially those located in and around Panipat and Sonepat, has caused treatment plants to stop functioning on several occasions after ammonia level went so high that it could not be treated. Untreated industrial effluent from Yamuna Nagar, Misra said, is released into the Dhanura Escape from where it meets the river upstream of Kunjpura in the Karnal district.
“Similarly, toxic waste from Panipat falls into the Yamuna near the village of Simla Gujran in Panipat district. Samples from the Dhanura Escape show presence of heavy metals, known health hazards and a clear indication of industrial pollution. This water is picked up at Wazirabad for treatment at Chandrawal and Wazirabad treatment plants,” he said.
Other than heavy metals, other pollutants, too, were much higher than BIS norms for drinking water. Total coliform was 1,200 against the permissible limit of 10, total dissolved solids were 3,324 against the permissible limit of 500, biochemical oxygen demand was 240 mg/l against a limit of 30 mg/l, and chemical oxygen demand was 768 mg/l against a limit of 250 mg/l, Misra added.
Central Pollution Control Board officials said they had made it compulsory for all industries to have effluent treatment plants. “Most industries have installed ETPs but either the treatment is not up to mark or not all effluent is reaching the ETPs. We have set up a real time water pollution monitoring station at Wazirabad where we monitor 10 parameters... heavy metals are not monitored as they cannot be treated in the plants,” said an official.
THE WISH LIST
Haryana government release more water from Hathnikund Barrage for Uttar Pradesh
Alternate arrangement be made for disposal of untreated sewage in Delhi, which is at present dumped into the river at 22 places
The holy river be given due respect
Religious offerings consumed by riverbank dwellers
Fishing for food in dangerous waters
Anindya Chattopadhyay & Jayashree Nandi TNN 2013/06/15
New Delhi: Diver boys on the Yamuna bank take a dip in the stinking pool of sewage every day, and often come back with lunch for their families.
Some find a huge sack of dal and the family enjoys it for days. Others sometimes pull out bags of rice, fruits, vegetables, and packs of ghee from the offerings made to the Yamuna and these make their meals on most days. It doesn’t matter if the food was soaked in the most toxic effluents; hunger is overpowering. The Yamuna, though foaming with chemicals, is often a source of nutrition for communities living by it.
Some youths have grown up on the food from the river. “We get oranges, bananas, mangoes, dal, rice, jowar, sugar.I havebeen eating these for years now and it doesn’t bother me,” one of them says.
They also get ‘precious’ items. They pull out coins, metal idols and very rarely even gold objects. A 15-year-old fished out a shiny object and sold it to the scrap-dealer in his colony for Rs 3,000. Some of his neighbours later told him it was made of gold.
Many of them have to submit all items to a contractor who pays them a nominal amount. “We have to give him what we get but we get to keep the food items,” says Paswa who recently found 12kg steel but “the contractor gave me Rs 200 for it”.
Girls are also excited about the day’s lucky pick. “If we get fruits, we are happy. They are usually fresh,” says Tulsi, who goes to an MCD school.
But not everyone can bring back lunch or goodies from the river — these diver boys are usually hired by police to look for corpses or save people from drowning.
Kyari Kashyap, a veteran among the divers, has been in the business for 30 years. “People conduct pujas here and throw a lot of prasad in the river. Why can’t the poor collect them?” Kyari is, however, concerned about pollution levels. He agrees that the food from the river may be unhealthy but that won’t stop people from collecting, he says.
Do floods help the Yamuna?
Swell in Yamuna kills the stink
TIMES NEWS NETWORK 2013/06/22
New Delhi: If you thought the Delhi stretch of Yamuna had long become a sewage pool, visit the river now. Flooded to the brim, it is reminiscent of what Yamuna may have originally looked like. The flood may have played havoc by displacing communities but it has also managed to dilute the polluted water and enliven a dead river.
Towards Okhla (downstream) the river water usually has a biochemical oxygen demand of 40 to 50 mg/l but since June 15, the BOD measured less than10 mg/l according to Central Pollution Control Board.
BOD is an important determinant to show how polluted the river water is. It is a measure of the quantity of oxygen used by microorganisms in the oxidation of organic matter. The acceptable limit of BOD is 3 mg/l.
“The pollutants have been washed away but the water is very turbid because of the debris that has come with the floodwater and runoff from agricultural fields. Even after the water level recedes, there will still be surplus water and we expect that pollution levels will be low for about two months,” said a senior officer from CPCB.
The flooding will also have an impact on the groundwater say scientists. Saumitra Mukherjee, professor of geology and remote sensing, School of Environmental Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University, says that there are lots of negative effects of flooding but one of the positive impact is the improvement in soil quality. “The flood brings with it fine silt, clay and sand. These and the sediment formed from them are usually fertile and can be beneficial for agricultural purposes. The floodwater also helps recharge underground aquifers,” he says.
However, he warns that the floodwater loaded with fecal matter can contaminate both the surface water and groundwater. “There has to be intensive monitoring of the water quality to check if it can cause contamination. When the floodwater starts receding there is a high chance of an epidemic and spread of bacterial infection among communities living by the river,” he adds.
The flooding also impacts aquatic life. The dead river may now have enough water to create the environmental conditions for spawning of certain species of fish.
“Floods are very important for Yamuna in Delhi. Earlier we had a lot of wetlands but development has eaten in to those. Usually during floods when the floodwater recedes, these pools or wetlands are recharged. Even our floodplains have been encroached upon. We need forests and grasslands by the river to retain and use the floodwater. We need a river front forest ecosystem,” adds Faiyaz A Khudsar, scientist at Yamuna Biodiversity Park
Floods REJUVENATE RIVER
Soil and water quality in Yamuna likely to remain slightly better for a couple of months from now Contaminated floodwater can also pollute groundwater. There are high chances of an epidemic as water recedes
Floodwater loaded with fine silt, clay and sand is likely to make the Yamuna soil fertile and will be benefi cial for agriculture
Floodwater will help recharge underground aquifers
It will rejuvenate wetlands near Yamuna
Flooding can induce breeding or spawning in some fish species in Yamuna
Flooding has already diluted polluted water near Okhla
Flooding can be alarming for some species like snakes and insects, which have started coming out of the burrows
River corridor vegetation and agriculture in floodplains likely to improve after fl oodwater recedes
The Yamuna: The highest flood levels recorded
The Yamuna, which has been reduced to being just a drain, transforms during the rains into a raging, menacing river
1978 | 5 Sept 207.49m
The Yamuna touched 207.49m on September 5 after 7 lakh cusec water was released upstream. Large parts of west, north and east Delhi, including Shalimar Bagh, Model Town and Mukherjee Nagar, were under 4-5 feet of water. It remains Delhi’s worst flood to date
1988 | 21 Sept 206.92 m
Continuous torrential rain in the hills from September 21 raised the Yamuna’s level to 206.92m at the Old Railway Bridge. Many areas in east and north Delhi, including Mukherjee Nagar, Geeta Colony, Yamuna Bazaar and Red Fort were affected
1995 | Sept 206.93 m
In Sept, river touched 206.93m. While release from Tajewala was massive, Delhi didn't let out water from Okhla barrage fast enough. Around 15,000 families lived in temporary shelters on main road for two months
2010 | Sept 207.11 m
Towards the end of September, the Yamuna rose to 207.11m and stayed at that level for eight hours. Areas like Kashmere Gate, Batla House, parts of Ring Road, Jaitpur and Majnu Ka Tila were flooded. Back flow from sewers submerged hundreds of houses in low areas
River in spate holds fortune for many
Neha Lalchandani | TNN2013/06/19
New Delhi: The havoc wreaked by the gushing river upstream of Delhi was evident in its water as it passed through the city. Hundreds, maybe thousands, of water melons, bottle gourds and pumpkins were seen being carried by the Yamuna, a reminder of the acres of agricultural land that have been inundated.
At the Old Railway Bridge, the road was closed for traffic once the Yamuna crossed the danger mark. The road was taken over by pedestrians and groups of boys who perched precariously from the railing with nets to trap the fruits and vegetables as they flowed under the bridge. On the other side of the bridge, youngsters cast massive blocks of magnets into the river and fished out coins.
By afternoon, the bridge was dotted with smashed pieces of red watermelons. Thrilled people carried off their fruits purchased for a pittance from the boys who spent hours netting these. “We have been doing this all morning, and for a price of Rs 5-10, we have pulled out fruits for people. The flow is extremely strong and it is very tiring work. We have been taking turns in holding the net,” said Pappu, a 15-year-old who had spent the better part of the day earning close to Rs 200.
The water has not improved despite generous funds
WATER QUALITY WORSE - Funds flow, Yamuna stays filthy
Jayashree.Nandi@timesgroup.com New Delhi
The Times of India Jul 15 2014
Every year the state and union budgets raise hopes that the Yamuna may after all soon get a new lease of life. In fact, the Delhi government's budget has been making the exact same promise for seven years (2008-14). Providing sewerage in urban villages and unauthorized colonies and laying interceptor sewers along major drains is its solution for Yamuna's pollution crisis. It has allotted over Rs 3,500 crore for these projects--mostly under the Yamuna Action Plans--to complete the work and ensure “discharge of pollutants comes down considerably“.
But 2014 Yamuna water sample investigations by Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) show levels have not improved; they are worse at some sites. Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) officials also confirmed to TOI that water quality parameters including biological oxygen demand (BOD) and total coliform levels have only deteriorated or are the same in almost all monitoring sites.
Interestingly , Delhi Jal Board (DJB) claims that 68% of the work of laying the interceptor sewer--large sewer lines that control the flow of sewage to a treatment plant--is already done. The project is divided into packages, out of which two will be completed by the end of 2014 and the rest by 2015. It also claims that of 2,574 urban and rural villages, unauthorized colonies and other un-sewered colonies, sewerage was provided in 842.
But no one seems to be sure why water quality hasn't started improving. One of the reasons, say officials, is that these projects will work only when sewage treatment plants func tion to their full capacity. As of now, most STPs are functioning at 50% capacity .
The funds allocated by the union government are also difficult to track. “The union government for instance allocated Rs 562 crore for rivers in 2009 and Rs 200 crore in 2011 for lakes and rivers and Rs 100 crore for “ghat development and beautification“ for seven river side cities including Delhi this time.
