Yamuna - Pollution

Pollution

In 1909 the waters of the Yamuna were distinguishable as "clear blue", as compared to the silt-laden yellow of the Ganges. However, due to high density population growth and rapid industrialization today Yamuna is one of the most polluted rivers in the world, especially around New Delhi, the capital of India, which dumps about 58% of its waste into the river.

Causes of pollution. New Delhi generates 1,900 million litre per day (MLD) of sewage. Though numerous attempts have been made to process it, the efforts have proven to be futile. Although the government of India has spent nearly $500 million to clean up the river, the Yamuna continues to be polluted with garbage while most sewage treatment facilities are underfunded or malfunctioning. In addition, the water in this river remains stagnant for almost nine months in a year, aggravating the situation. Delhi alone contributes around 3,296 MLD of sewage in the river. The government of India over the next five years has prepared plans to rebuild and repair the sewage system and the drains that empty into the river. To address river pollution, certain measures of cleaning river have been taken by the Government's Ministry of Environment and Forests in twelve towns of Haryana, eight towns of Uttar Pradesh, and Delhi, under the Yamuna Action Plan (YAP) which has been implemented since 1993 by the National River Conservation Directorate (NRCD) of the Ministry of Environment and Forests. The Japan Bank for International Cooperation is participating in the Yamuna Action Plan in 15 of the above 21 towns (excluding 6 towns of Haryana included later on the direction of Supreme Court of India) with soft loan assistance of 17.773 billion Japanese Yen (equivalent to about Rs. 700 crore INR) while the Government of India is providing the funds for the remaining 6 towns added later. In 2007 the Indian government's plans to repair sewage lines was predicted to improve the water quality of the river 90% by the year 2010.

However in 2009, the Union government admitted to the Lok Sabha (Indian Parliament), the failure of the Ganga Action Plan (GAP) and the Yamuna Action Plan (YAP), saying that "rivers Ganga and Yamuna are no cleaner now than two decades ago" despite spending over Rs 1,700 crore to control pollution. According to a CSE official, these plans adopted the Thames model, based on a centralized sewage treatment system. This meant that huge sum of money and a 24-hr power supply were needed to manage the treatment plants, while only an 8-hr power supply was available, contributing to the failure of both river plans. In August 2009, he Delhi Jal Board (DJB) initiated its plan for resuscitating the Yamuna’s 22 km stretch in Delhi by constructing interceptor sewers, at the cost of about Rs 1,800 crore.