River Yamuna
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Yamuna, pollution in the river
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6,500cr and 19yrs later, Yamuna dirtier than ever/ Clean-Up Plan Flops, SC Review Today By Neha Lalchandani, Add source, 2013/03/11 |
This is a newspaper article selected for the excellence of its content. |
New Delhi: [In 1994?] the Supreme Court first scrutinized pollution in the Yamuna. Innumerable orders later, Yamuna is dirtier than ever with a mind-numbing Rs 6,500 crore spent to clean the river and the latest plan — interceptor sewers — going
On Monday, when SC reviews Yamuna’s pollution, it could be back to the drawing board. Six years after the Delhi Jal Board proposed interceptor sewers to treat sewage before it flows into major drains, just Rs 51 crore of the Rs 1,963 crore scheme has been spent.
Worse, it is not even clear if the measure that was to improve water quality by 2010 will actually work in light of the rapid growth of unauthorized colonies discharging sewage into the river, an issue flagged even in 2007 by an official committee that approved the interceptor proposal.
The committee had warned that 1,432 unauthorized colonies were the nub of the problem. By 2012, their number had jumped to 1,639. Although these colonies have been promised regularization, drainage and sewers are years away. In 2007, 517 of 567 unauthorized regularized colonies had sewers. The number grew by just six in the next five years. DJB says it is tough to provide sewerage in such densely populated colonies where they have barely any road space for their work.
A report submitted to the court by an inspection team that included amicus curiae Ranjit Kumar as recently as November last year called for sewage connections to all new colonies, whether authorized or not.
It pointed out that Delhi’s 17 sewage treatment plants (STPs) have a capacity of 2,460 MGD against utilization of 1,558 MGD. Delhi’s sewage generation is around 3,800 MGD.
THROWING MONEY IN THE RIVER
6,500cr spent by Delhi, UP and Haryana to clean Yamuna. This includes central funds. No improvement in water quality in past 8 yrs Only 51cr of 1,963cr sanctioned for interceptor drains spent. Scheme proposed in 2007, was to deliver results by 2010 Number of unauthorized colonies has jumped from 1,432 in 2007 to 1,639 in 2012
Only 55% of Delhi’s population served by sewer system
Delhi’s installed sewage treatment capacity is 2,460 MLD. Sewage generated is 3,800 MLD. But just 63% of installed capacity is being used
City’s biggest drain, Najafgarh, discharges 2,064 MLD. Only 30% is treated.
Worse, treated sewage is again mixed with waste
SC-mandated team inspected 4 sewage treatment plants in November 2012.
All four were deficient
Heavy metals in city’s drinking water
New Delhi:Delhi’s drinking water is contaminated with tonnes of industrial waste. Industries located upstream of the Yamuna have been found to be discharging untreated waste into the river, leading to the presence of heavy metals in water that is picked up at Wazirabad to meet the city’s drinking water needs.
Manoj Misra of the Yamuna Jiye Abhiyan had water from the Dhanura Escape — a channel that empties into the Yamuna — tested at a laboratory in Gwalior and found that the levels of chromium, lead and iron were higher than permissible. “While chromium was 0.13 mg/l against 0.05 mg/l, lead was 0.035 mg/l against 0.01mg/l and iron was 3.51mg/l against a permissible 0.1 mg/l. The presence of heavy metals is even more problematic since the treatment plants in Delhi are not equipped to detect or treat them,” said Misra.
Pollution from industries in Haryana, especially those located in and around Panipat and Sonepat, has caused treatment plants to stop functioning on several occasions after ammonia level went so high that it could not be treated. Untreated industrial effluent from Yamuna Nagar, Misra said, is released into the Dhanura Escape from where it meets the river upstream of Kunjpura in the Karnal district.
“Similarly, toxic waste from Panipat falls into the Yamuna near the village of Simla Gujran in Panipat district. Samples from the Dhanura Escape show presence of heavy metals, known health hazards and a clear indication of industrial pollution. This water is picked up at Wazirabad for treatment at Chandrawal and Wazirabad treatment plants,” he said.
Other than heavy metals, other pollutants, too, were much higher than BIS norms for drinking water. Total coliform was 1,200 against the permissible limit of 10, total dissolved solids were 3,324 against the permissible limit of 500, biochemical oxygen demand was 240 mg/l against a limit of 30 mg/l, and chemical oxygen demand was 768 mg/l against a limit of 250 mg/l, Misra added.
Central Pollution Control Board officials said they had made it compulsory for all industries to have effluent treatment plants. “Most industries have installed ETPs but either the treatment is not up to mark or not all effluent is reaching the ETPs. We have set up a real time water pollution monitoring station at Wazirabad where we monitor 10 parameters... heavy metals are not monitored as they cannot be treated in the plants,” said an official.
THE WISH LIST
Haryana government release more water from Hathnikund Barrage for Uttar Pradesh
Alternate arrangement be made for disposal of untreated sewage in Delhi, which is at present dumped into the river at 22 places
The holy river be given due respect
Offerings made by the devout are consumed by some who live nearby
Fishing for food in dangerous waters
Anindya Chattopadhyay & Jayashree Nandi TNN 2013/06/15
New Delhi: Diver boys on the Yamuna bank take a dip in the stinking pool of sewage every day, and often come back with lunch for their families.
Some find a huge sack of dal and the family enjoys it for days. Others sometimes pull out bags of rice, fruits, vegetables, and packs of ghee from the offerings made to the Yamuna and these make their meals on most days. It doesn’t matter if the food was soaked in the most toxic effluents; hunger is overpowering. The Yamuna, though foaming with chemicals, is often a source of nutrition for communities living by it.
Some youths have grown up on the food from the river. “We get oranges, bananas, mangoes, dal, rice, jowar, sugar.I havebeen eating these for years now and it doesn’t bother me,” one of them says.
They also get ‘precious’ items. They pull out coins, metal idols and very rarely even gold objects. A 15-year-old fished out a shiny object and sold it to the scrap-dealer in his colony for Rs 3,000. Some of his neighbours later told him it was made of gold.
Many of them have to submit all items to a contractor who pays them a nominal amount. “We have to give him what we get but we get to keep the food items,” says Paswa who recently found 12kg steel but “the contractor gave me Rs 200 for it”.
Girls are also excited about the day’s lucky pick. “If we get fruits, we are happy. They are usually fresh,” says Tulsi, who goes to an MCD school.
But not everyone can bring back lunch or goodies from the river — these diver boys are usually hired by police to look for corpses or save people from drowning.
Kyari Kashyap, a veteran among the divers, has been in the business for 30 years. “People conduct pujas here and throw a lot of prasad in the river. Why can’t the poor collect them?” Kyari is, however, concerned about pollution levels. He agrees that the food from the river may be unhealthy but that won’t stop people from collecting, he says.
The Yamuna: The highest flood levels recorded
The Yamuna, which has been reduced to being just a drain, transforms during the rains into a raging, menacing river
1978 | 5 Sept 207.49m
The Yamuna touched 207.49m on September 5 after 7 lakh cusec water was released upstream. Large parts of west, north and east Delhi, including Shalimar Bagh, Model Town and Mukherjee Nagar, were under 4-5 feet of water. It remains Delhi’s worst flood to date
1988 | 21 Sept 206.92 m
Continuous torrential rain in the hills from September 21 raised the Yamuna’s level to 206.92m at the Old Railway Bridge. Many areas in east and north Delhi, including Mukherjee Nagar, Geeta Colony, Yamuna Bazaar and Red Fort were affected
1995 | Sept 206.93 m
In Sept, river touched 206.93m. While release from Tajewala was massive, Delhi didn't let out water from Okhla barrage fast enough. Around 15,000 families lived in temporary shelters on main road for two months
2010 | Sept 207.11 m
Towards the end of September, the Yamuna rose to 207.11m and stayed at that level for eight hours. Areas like Kashmere Gate, Batla House, parts of Ring Road, Jaitpur and Majnu Ka Tila were flooded. Back flow from sewers submerged hundreds of houses in low areas
River in spate holds fortune for many
Neha Lalchandani | TNN2013/06/19
New Delhi: The havoc wreaked by the gushing river upstream of Delhi was evident in its water as it passed through the city. Hundreds, maybe thousands, of water melons, bottle gourds and pumpkins were seen being carried by the Yamuna, a reminder of the acres of agricultural land that have been inundated.
At the Old Railway Bridge, the road was closed for traffic once the Yamuna crossed the danger mark. The road was taken over by pedestrians and groups of boys who perched precariously from the railing with nets to trap the fruits and vegetables as they flowed under the bridge. On the other side of the bridge, youngsters cast massive blocks of magnets into the river and fished out coins.
By afternoon, the bridge was dotted with smashed pieces of red watermelons. Thrilled people carried off their fruits purchased for a pittance from the boys who spent hours netting these. “We have been doing this all morning, and for a price of Rs 5-10, we have pulled out fruits for people. The flow is extremely strong and it is very tiring work. We have been taking turns in holding the net,” said Pappu, a 15-year-old who had spent the better part of the day earning close to Rs 200.
