Recently, a thick layer of white froth on the surface of the river Yamuna made headlines in the national media, denoting the poor state of our holy river. The death of a river is not only marked by the depletion of its water. Sometimes, even when water is flowing, the river is considered dead because it is heavily polluted. Delhi’s dying holy river Yamuna is the classic example of this.
“Yamuna is revered as the twin sister of ‘Yama’—the goddess of death. Humans have forced Yamuna to face its own death“
The white foam that repeatedly accumulates on this river is the outcome of the various human activities and processes. What are those processes? Which factors lead to those processes? Which unique factors operate in the Yamuna basin, making it one of the most polluted rivers across the world?
White Foam: A complex interplay of factors
The rivers have their own natural cleaning ability. However, this’regenerative capacity’ of the rivers also has some limits beyond which the natural cleaning is not possible. The rate of polluting the rivers far exceeds their natural cleaning rates. River Yamuna is vulnerable to point as well as non-point sources of pollution.
The Delhi stretch of the Yamuna river is about 22 km, starting from Wazirabad Barrage to Okhla Barrage, which accounts for 2% of the river’s length that flows through the capital. Yet, this stretch alone is responsible for 76% of the river’s pollution.
The Delhi pollution control committee submitted a report to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) according to which 90% of the domestic waste water enters the Yamuna. As we know that Delhi experiences one of the highest population densities and urbanisation, the absolute amount of domestic waste is huge. The Delhi Jal Board (DJB) has recently submitted an affidavit on the status of sewage treatment plants (STPs) in the national capital. The report claimed that there are a total of 40 STPs operating in Delhi, although around 8 of these are not functioning.
‘Delhi empties more than 3,500 million litres of municipal sewage in the river, and, despite tall claims, over 50 percent of the sewage is either untreated or not adequately treated and flows directly into the Yamuna.’
– Vimlendu Jha, Outlook magazine in 2022
Similarly, the area is also a major industrial region of India. 44 million litres of industrial effluents are discharged into the river on a daily basis. Najafgarh and Shahdara drains are notorious for bringing heavy metals like iron (Fe) to the river. Phosphate pollution from industries as well as detergents is yet another major issue. The recommended range of phosphate is 0.005–0.05 mg/litre, but studies conducted in Yamuna show a phosphate concentration of 0.51 mg/litre, which is around 100 times more than the recommended value.
Agriculture is another major contributor. Yamuna basin has the presence of agriculturally dominated states of Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Madhya Pradesh. Rampant use of fertilisers and pesticides eventually drains into the river, leading to ammonia contamination. Excessive nitrogenous waste from agricultural fields leads to eutrophication, promoting overgrowth of plants and algae. The algal bloom prevents the sunlight from entering into the deeper layers of the river, which leads to a mass decay of the plants. Further, microbial decomposition reduces the dissolved oxygen content in the river and creates dead zones. The fats from the decayed plant further release ammonia and phosphates. Ammonia and phosphates lead to the formation of white foam over the river surface.
Idol immersions further exacerbate the issue. Nowadays, the idols are decorated with cosmetics containing lead and microplastics. Lead and chrome paints, along with plaster of Paris, which is used for their construction, enter into the rivers directly once they are released during festivals like Ganesh Chaturthi and Durga Puja. In 2021, the Delhi Pollution Control Committee issued guidelines to District Magistrates to ensure that idols are not immersed in the Yamuna or any other water body in the national capital. Violations would be punishable with a fine of ₹ 50,000 or a jail term of up to six years. The Agra stretch of Yamuna faces the issue of plastic pollution. Despite the ban on single use plastic in 2017, we witness its rampant use.
Dangerous impacts
Experts have pointed out the detrimental impacts of such a state of the River Yamuna. The religious and cultural beliefs make this river holy and thus invite a lot of people to take a holy dip in this river in festivals like ‘Chhath’ etc. The bathing standard recommends below 500 coliform bacteria/100 millilitres of water. According to CPCB, Yamuna has the presence of 1.1 billion faecal coliforms/100 millilitres of water. This exposes the people to a number of skin and respiratory diseases.
The aquatic ecosystem is further disturbed. Fish die on a large scale. Restricted sunlight penetration affects the rate of photosynthesis. The food web gets affected as primary producers are not able to produce enough food. Biomagnification and bioaccumulation lead to toxin accumulation in species across the trophic levels.
Agriculture is further impacted as the polluted water enters the agricultural fields. It impacts the soil chemistry as well as soil structure. The soil’s microbial life is also detrimentally affected. The fields might face the issue of increasing salinity and acidity in different areas.
“Rivers of death’: ‘Once symbols of purity and life for India’s teeming millions, India’s rivers are today foul receptacles of sewage and toxic waste. If the poisoning of our rivers is not stopped, more disease and death seem inevitable“
– Journalist Samar Halarnkar In 1997.
A viable option
The most important strategy is to increase the natural cleansing ability of the Yamuna, which can be done by supplying extra water to it and increasing its discharge. Between the two barrages — Wazirabad and Okhla—there is no water but only sewage that is added. To increase the water supply, there are two options: (i) to ask for additional water from Haryana, and (ii) to reduce water demand and build water harvesting to capture rainwater so that it can be discharged into the river during the lean season. While political interests might not allow the first strategy to work, the second remains the most viable option as of now.
The second is that the existing sewage treatment plants must be utilised efficiently. Innovative ways to intercept the waste and bring it to the plants must be carried out. Further, the treated effluent must not be put back into the same open drain, which carries the untreated waste. This is exactly what happens presently in the Delhi NCR. This defeats the entire objective and process.
Third, all the treated waste must be reused and recycled as far as possible. In-situ drain treatment can bring down pollution levels of discharge that is not intercepted. This would mean using innovative technologies for bioremediation, oxidation, and aeration to decompose and degrade sewage.
Also, in the long run, the problem can only find its solution when we address the root cause. Sustainable agricultural practices, reduced rural-urban divide, regulated migration, regularised colonies with functional toilets, and local participation can bring the real change.
In 2017, the Uttarakhand High Court ordered that the Ganga and the Yamuna be accorded the status of living human entities, which would mean that polluting or damaging the rivers will be legally equivalent to harming or killing a person. The judges cited the example of the Whanganui River (revered by the indigenous Maori people, which was declared a living entity with full legal rights by the New Zealand government in August 2017).
Conclusion
In conclusion, Yamuna’s crisis reflects the broader environmental degradation facing many of our rivers. The river’s heavy pollution caused by unchecked sewage, industrial waste, agricultural runoff, and cultural practices has pushed its natural regeneration capacity to the brink. Only through collective efforts, from policy changes to community involvement, can we hope to revive this sacred river and protect the livelihoods and ecosystems dependent on it.
References & Credits:
https://www.cseindia.org/brief-on-the-yamuna-what-ails-the-yamuna–11059
