Delhi chokes Yamuma river, 80% pollution done within its 22 km strech

Last updated Jul 17, 2017

JIBRAN NAZIR (PHOTO/VIDEO SAURABH SHRIVASTAVA) TENNEWS

Ragu, a middle aged man, is off to take a dip in the waters of River Yamuna – one of the longest rivers of India and probably one of the most polluted river in the world. But this doesn’t stop Ragu from taking a ritual bath in the black water covered with toxic fumes.

“Yamuna is not polluted, we humans are,” he says.

India is a country where rivers are not merely water bodies but are worshipped as gods and godesses. But all this religius esteem couldn’t save Yamuna from drastic pollution.

The deplorable condition of the Yamuna is known to everyone.

The India national capital has spent over Rs 2,000 crore on Yamuna clean-up in the last 22 years but the reality has only become starker when you consider the recent and the past data that shows absolutely no improvement in the water quality.

Despite this, believers continue to believe in Yamuna, bathe in the toxic pool, toss tonnes of debris in the name of religion and drink from it. This revered lake continues to attract devotees during festivals and celebrations around it. A river that reeks almost always has now become a subject of debate, lest action.

These known stretches of the Yamuna that originate from the Himalayas and flow 855 miles to the Ganges River are now officially dead. Foam now covers large swaths of the water, making passersby cover their mouths and nose with a cloth.

Streching from Yamnotri Glacier to Allahbad, this river drains itself into the Bay of Bengal. Of around 1400 kms of this river’s length, 22 kms strech of Yamuna in Delhi has accounts for 80% of the pollution of this river.

The large stretches of the Yamuna that were technically dead due to the release of untreated sewage into it, are now giving hopes to many activists. But we wonder if the order would ensure that every drain that enters the river carries treated water or if a minimum “ecological flow” will be maintained to sustain life in the river.

Just recently, some environmentalist even sought for a FIR for ‘attempt to murder’ Yamuna river, now a living entity, but it will take really long before we fix anything.

“To preserve and conserve Ganga and Yamuna,” the Uttrakhand court said that all their tributaries, streams, every natural water flowing of these rivers would have the status of a legal person with all corresponding rights and duties.

Despite repeated attempts officials of NGT National Green Tribunal could not be availed to speak on the issue.