Despite over three decades of efforts, Yamuna continues to be increasingly polluted through its passage across Delhi.
Sanjay, 45, who is perched on a group of sloping rocks on the banks of black-tinged waters of Yamuna in Kalindi Kunj in the southern-eastern part of the city, has been fishing for the past six hours without much luck.
“I have only caught three small fish till now. I can’t even sell it as it is too little,” he says, showing a small dirty plastic bag, on a winter afternoon. "About 20 years ago, we used to catch big bags full of fish. But the water is dirty now," he says, pointing to the river, already covered with toxic foam floating on it. “Wait for a few more months, the water will turn completely black.”
Yamuna, once the lifeline of Delhi, along whose banks the Mughals built the Red Fort and the city of Shahjahanabad (Old Delhi), is now one of the most polluted major rivers in the country.
The successive governments have been trying to clean the river for at least three decades. Despite the scrutiny of the Supreme Court and the National Green Tribunal (NGT), the quality of the river passing through Delhi is nowhere close to even bathing standards.
Considered as a holy river by Hindus, it’s common to see people performing rituals on the bank of Yamuna. In fact, the Chhath Puja – a four-day festival dedicated to the Sun God, is traditionally celebrated on the banks of Yamuna in Delhi.
A parliamentary panel in its report last year likened Yamuna to an almost dead river saying its capacity to sustain life is almost non-existent in the Delhi stretch.
The 1,400-km-long Yamuna originates from Yamunotri Glacier in Uttarakhand, flows through Himachal Pradesh and Haryana, before reaching Delhi. It exits the national capital to Uttar Pradesh, and further downstream its confluence with the Ganga and the mythical Saraswati is revered as the triveni sangam in Prayagraj.
The Yamuna, which is almost transparent at Palla where it enters Delhi, is met by black, stinky water from the about 10 metre-wide Najafgarh drain, just downstream of Wazirabad Barrage.
When The Hindu travelled from Palla, where the river enters Delhi, to Okhla, the last main barrage before the river leaves Delhi, the discolouration of the water was visible as it travels through the city and more drains empty out into the river.
The river exits the city as one of the most polluted rivers, at Asgarpur, after travelling about 54 km. Here, the level of Fecal Coliform (microbes from human and animal excreta) reaches up to -- 32,000 times -- the 'desirable level', shows official figures of last year.
This means pollution of the river water must be brought down by up to 99.99% for Yamuna to be even fit for bathing.
The water between Wazirabad and Okhla, which is about 22-km-long or just 2% of the Yamuna, constitutes 76% of the pollution load of the river, as per official data.
At least 22 drains empty into the Yamuna in Delhi, which used to be natural streams and storm water drains carrying excess water during rains. But now, they bring in a cocktail of sewage and industrial effluents.
A staggering 68.71% of the total wastewater discharged into the Yamuna across Delhi comes through the Najafgarh drain. It carries 70% of the total pollution load caused by wastewater into the river, as per a Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) report.
Another major polluting source is the Shahdara drain, which contributes 10.9% of the total wastewater discharge and carries 13.95% of the total wastewater pollution load.
Manu Bhatnagar, principal director, natural heritage division of the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage explains how migration too contributed to pollution.
Since the 1970s, a lot of migrant workers began settling in Delhi. The banks of Yamuna were among the many settlements that housed unauthorised colonies. "Without any proper sewage network, most of the waste and sewage from these unauthorised colonies ended up in small open drains, which flowed into larger storm water drains, and finally ended up in Yamuna," Mr. Bhatnagar says. Many unregulated industries also came, whose untreated effluents also ended up in Yamuna, he adds.
Currently, there are over 1,780 unauthorised colonies in the national capital, as per the Delhi government.
In a written reply to Rajya Sabha during the Winter Session of Parliament, the Jal Shakti Ministry said Delhi had a sewage treatment gap of 414 Millions of Litres per Day (MLD).
Neighbouring States also contribute to the pollution of the Delhi stretch of the river.
Six drains from Haryana flow into the Najafgarh drain, and four major drains from Uttar Pradesh discharge into the Shahdara drain.
The lack of adequate water in the riverbed is also a factor behind a polluted Yamuna. Less water is available in the Delhi stretch of the river, as most of the water is diverted to drinking and agricultural purposes.
Yamuna water is diverted through the Western and Eastern Canals to aid irrigation in Haryana and Uttar Pradesh.
Interestingly, during most monsoons, the floodwaters dilute pollution and improve the river quality in Delhi. For instance, August and September last year showed improvement in the water quality, as the river was receiving heavy flow due to rainfall in the upper reaches. It still did not meet the bathing standards.
But the very next month thousands of devotees from Purvanchal region (who form about 30% of Delhi’s electorate) took a holy dip in Yamuna during the Chhath Puja festivities held from October 25 to 28.
Just four days ahead of the festival, the Haryana government nearly halted irrigation water releases and increased the release of water into Yamuna from Hathnikund Barrage, around 200km upstream, by 250 times.
The timing of water release coincided with the festival, thus giving the river a relatively cleaner look by flushing out the pollutants to an extent.
As soon as the four-day Chhath Puja concluded, the Haryana government sharply reduced release of water, cutting the flow into Yamuna by nearly 96%, according to data from the Central Water Commission (CWC).
Consequently, in the following months, the Yamuna’s water quality deteriorated. Fecal coliform levels in Delhi reached above 54,000 MPN/100 ml (over 108 times the desirable limit) in December.
Experts and activists have been insisting for years that cleaning up Yamuna should focus on cleaning up the drains and increasing the water flow in the river as it passes through Delhi.
"It is not rocket science to clean the river, but the criminal apathy of both central and state governments over the years that has led to the current situation,” says Mr. Thakkar.
The history of unsuccessful attempts at cleaning the river, despite thousands of crores of rupees and legal scrutiny at the topmost level, makes it a daunting task.
When hundreds of people jumped into the Seine River in the heart of Paris, it was nothing short of historic – the river had reopened to public swimming on July 5 last year for the first time since 1923, after a century-long ban due to pollution.
Dr. Balakrishna Pisupati, head of United Nations Environment Programme (India), says many European rivers such as the Seine, Rhine and Thames were revived by focusing on treating the sewage and industrial waste falling into the river and increasing the flow.
“It took about 10 years of concentrated efforts and around 1.4 billion dollars to clean the Seine River,” he says, adding that the clean-up drive involved strong monitoring of water quality and pollutants by the government on a real-time basis.
There are elements India can learn from all these examples, and there is hope for Yamuna, Mr. Pisupati says.
Last year, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) stormed into power in the national capital after 27 years with a promise that their “triple engine government” will make Yamuna clean. Prime Minister Narendra Modi began his victory speech chanting “Yamuna maiyya ki jai [Hail mother Yamuna]”, while Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta along with her cabinet colleagues performed Yamuna aarti as soon as they were sworn in.
The new government has given the top priority for cleaning up Yamuna. A plan presented to the Prime Minister in April is being monitored by Home Minister Amit Shah almost every 45 days, officials say.
In July, Mr. Shah directed the Delhi government to nearly double its sewage treatment capacity from 764.2 million gallons per day (MGD) to 1,500 MGD by 2028 to make sure that no untreated sewage enters the Yamuna.
Under the new plan, apart from the sewage treatment, different options, including diverting water from Ganga to dilute the pollution in the Delhi stretch of Yamuna are being considered.
“Earlier, there was a lack of coordinated efforts and monitoring at the highest level, even though courts were directing to do it,” a senior central government official told The Hindu on why there is a renewed hope now.
“Maa Yamuna is a symbol of our faith and existence. Keeping her pure, flowing, and vibrant is our shared responsibility,” the Delhi Chief Minister said during the launch of ₹1,816-crore Yamuna clean-up and drinking water projects in the National Capital in October.
However, Himanshu Thakkar of SANDRP is skeptical pointing out the lack of accountability despite numerous court orders over the last three decades to clean Yamuna. “If the river has to be cleaned, governance has to be fixed and there should be accountability and transparency,” Mr. Thakkar says, adding “with the current system and situation, there is no hope in cleaning Yamuna.”
But the question remains: Can Delhi pull out a feat that Paris did with Seine?