River Yamuna is one of the most polluted rivers of India and this is becoming a great concern for the country. River Yamuna is the largest tributary of the Ganga River in North India measuring around 1370 kilometres. The barrages formed on the river are playing a major role in intensifying the river pollution. It flows through the states of Delhi, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, before merging with Ganga at Allahabad. The discharge of untreated domestic and industrial effluents from all the cities that it passes through have gravely affected the quality of Yamuna River and now it falls under the category E, which makes it fit only for recreation and industrial cooling, completely ruling out the possibility for underwater life. The Yamuna has been reduced to a small stream, draining industrial effluents, sewage, dirt and other toxic substances. There is an urgent need to take stringent measures to palliate these pollution loads and save an ailing river.
Another major source of pollution is the Okhla barrage 22 km downstream of Wazirabad which receives water from seventeen sewage drains of Delhi, Najafgarh drain. It is considered as the most polluted segment of Yamuna River. From this segment Yamuna water is diverted into Agra canal for irrigation. River water is not allowed to flow downstream during summers; beyond the Okhla barrage whatever water flow in Yamuna River is the domestic and industrial waste water generated from East Delhi, Noida and Sahibabad and joins the river through Shahdara drain. At the upstream of Mathura Gokul barrage is also decreasing the flow and thereby polluting the river. Yamuna River after receiving water through other important tributaries joins the river Ganga and the underground Saraswati at Prayag (Allahabad) after traversing about 950 km. It means that a polluted Yamuna river will also pollute other rivers that it eventually merges with.
In Delhi around 3296 MLD (million litres per day) of sewage by virtue of drains is falling in Yamuna and approximately 3.5 lakh people live in the 62000 Jhuggis that have come up on the Yamuna river bed and its embankment.
The pollution in the Yamuna River is continuously escalating and the river water is unfit for any use. There are serious water quality problems in the cities, towns and villages using Yamuna River as their source for water supply and the Yamuna is under a severe threat from unprecedented escalation in urbanization and industrialization.
Approximately 75 percent of urban waste in India ends up in the country’s rivers, and unchecked urban growth across the country combined with poor government oversight means the problem is only getting worse. About 20 billion rupees, has been spent on various cleanup efforts. But in last ten years not even a single penny has been spent to clean the river. Not only the major cities are getting polluted but unfortunately, people are falling prey to many harmful diseases. This situation has come up despite the huge investments made by subsequent governments in cleaning them up. As a result the survival of these rivers, and consequently our survival too, are at stake.
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Another major source of pollution is the Okhla barrage 22 km downstream of Wazirabad which receives water from seventeen sewage drains of Delhi, Najafgarh drain. It is considered as the most polluted segment of Yamuna River. From this segment Yamuna water is diverted into Agra canal for irrigation. River water is not allowed to flow downstream during summers; beyond the Okhla barrage whatever water flow in Yamuna River is the domestic and industrial waste water generated from East Delhi, Noida and Sahibabad and joins the river through Shahdara drain. At the upstream of Mathura Gokul barrage is also decreasing the flow and thereby polluting the river. Yamuna River after receiving water through other important tributaries joins the river Ganga and the underground Saraswati at Prayag (Allahabad) after traversing about 950 km. It means that a polluted Yamuna river will also pollute other rivers that it eventually merges with.
In Delhi around 3296 MLD (million litres per day) of sewage by virtue of drains is falling in Yamuna and approximately 3.5 lakh people live in the 62000 Jhuggis that have come up on the Yamuna river bed and its embankment.
The pollution in the Yamuna River is continuously escalating and the river water is unfit for any use. There are serious water quality problems in the cities, towns and villages using Yamuna River as their source for water supply and the Yamuna is under a severe threat from unprecedented escalation in urbanization and industrialization.
Approximately 75 percent of urban waste in India ends up in the country’s rivers, and unchecked urban growth across the country combined with poor government oversight means the problem is only getting worse. About 20 billion rupees, has been spent on various cleanup efforts. But in last ten years not even a single penny has been spent to clean the river. Not only the major cities are getting polluted but unfortunately, people are falling prey to many harmful diseases. This situation has come up despite the huge investments made by subsequent governments in cleaning them up. As a result the survival of these rivers, and consequently our survival too, are at stake.
More such Stories on Litmus News