Yamuna’s Perennial Toxic Saga: A Critical Issue For Delhi

Yamuna's plight raises questions about accountability and the effectiveness of governmental commitments to environmental supervision

As the festive season approaches, the Yamuna river remains a focal point in the national capital, marred by extreme pollution despite repeated electoral promises. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), led by former Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, has continually vowed to clean this river. Yet, just weeks before the annual Chhath Puja, toxic foam covers its surface, highlighting the grim reality of the situation.

Notably, soon after coming to power in 2015, Kejriwal had promised to clean the river and said, “We will revive Yamuna within five years.”

Then again in 2021, Kejriwal reiterated the promise to rejuvenate the Yamuna and said that he will take a dip in the river in February 2025. Then in 2020, Delhi’s then water minister Satyendra Jain claimed that the Delhi government was committed to revive the river within next three-four years. In November 2021, Kejriwal announced a six-point action plan to change the face of Yamuna. Even AAP’s Rajya Sabha Member of Parliament Swati Maliwal attacked the Delhi government and accused them of “making false promises of cleaning the river”.

Earlier this year, the Delhi government’s pollution control body planned to penalise chief engineers of sewage treatment plants that do not treat wastewater to prescribed standards, a major cause of pollution in the Yamuna. The national capital missed the December 2023 deadline to treat all sewage generated to the prescribed standards. The Delhi Jal Board (DJB) received a six-month extension but failed to meet the goal, according to monthly progress reports on Yamuna’s rejuvenation sent to the Jal Shakti ministry.

Meanwhile, Bhartiya Janata Party Delhi unit president Virendra Sachdeva took a dip in the Yamuna river earlier this week in Delhi to highlight the pollution. The Delhi BJP chief had invited people to Chhath Ghat to show the plight of Yamuna.

Sachdeva said that he took a dip to “atone for the sins of Kejriwal”. He further said: “The central government gave Rs 8,500 crore to the Delhi government in seven years for cleaning the Yamuna, but the money was embezzled by the AAP government. The BJP leader later reported breathing issues and skin irritation days after he took a dip in the heavily polluted toxic water of the Yamuna River. After experiencing health issues, the Delhi BJP chief slammed Kejriwal over his ‘failure’ to fulfill his promise of cleaning Yamuna by 2025.”

The spike in pollution levels in the Yamuna has mirrored the various political promises made over the years.

According to water quality data from 2021, the biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) level of the Yamuna rose dramatically from 11.0 mg at Pala (where it enters Delhi) to a whopping 127.0 mg at Asgarpur (where it exits). Recent data from 2024 suggests a similar trend, with BOD levels starting at 2.5 mg and spiking to an alarming 80.0 mg at Asgarpur.

Yamuna’s plight continues to be a critical issue in Delhi, raising pressing questions about accountability and the effectiveness of governmental commitments to environmental supervision.

News is originally taken from: https://bit.ly/3YvK1gC

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