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f a c t s
For many years
now, the citizens of Delhi have been drinking a concoction of chemicals in thebelief
that it was,safe and clean drinking water that was being supplied to them by
the DELHI JAl BAOARD75% of Delhi's water is being supplied from the Yamuna.
Delhi contributes 3,538 million liters of wastewater, mostly polluted, to the
river everyday.Nearly Rs.378 crores have been spent by the government, in the
last 5 years, to clean up the river. But where has the money gone? Environmentalists
continue describing the Yamuna as nothing more than a drain, a "clogged
sewer".
Only 5% (figures submitted to the supreme court) of Delhi's waste water is treated
before being released into the river. The law says all the water must be treated.
The 19 major drains of Delhi contribute to 96% of the rivers pollution.
Delhi constitutes only 2% of the total catchment of the yamuna basin, but contributes
to 80% of the pollution load, 90% of which is domestic sewer waste.
The new barrage
below Okhla, discharges no water into the river bed between the nine months
of October to June, and only during the monsoon is there an overflow into the
main channel. All fishes have been killed in the stretch from Delhi to Hamirpur,
where the Chambal flows into the Yamuna bed. The river is virtually dead on
this stretch, and only drains flow into it giving off a stench as would a corpse
· The river, which has mention in the Rig Veda (Mandala V Hymn 52-17) and in
which thousand used to bath at Mathura on sacred occasions, now lies as a helpless
relic of its past glory. The river is part of our national ethos, and is proudly
mentioned in the national anthem, To kill such a pristine natural inheritance
of this county is surely a grave crime.
The average flow in the river has been reduced, the quality of water is now
totally degraded on account of pollution and discharge of industrial and trade
effluents, domestic sewage, poisonous, noxious or polluting matter to the extent
that it can support no animal life and only reduced amount of plankton.
Thousands of people living on the banks of the river in jhuggi colonies, who
are deprived of civic amenities, are compelled to use the polluted waters of
the river for domestic and drinking purposes. Hundreds of children bath daily
in the river and the Agra Canal and must be inadvertently gulping the waters
which makes them the victims of water borne diseases.
That the Directive Principles of the Indian Constitution as contained in Article
48A enjoins upon the state "to endeavour to protect and improve the environment
and to safeguard the forests and wild life of the country". The Fundamental
Duties as enshrined under Article 51A(g) requires every citizen to protect and
improve the natural environment, including forests, lakes, rivers and wild life,
and to have compassion for living creatures".
The pollution
in the Jamuna at Delhi has already destroyed most living organisms including
a wide variety of fish. Polluted waters flowing out into the Agra Canal are
causing serious problems of salinity in the irrigated area, leading to degradation
of the fertility of its rich alluvial soil .
The stoppage of the flow in the great rivers of Ganga and Yamuna downstream
of the barrages at Narora and Okhla for some nine months of the year destroys
all living organism and fish over long stretches of these rivers and deprives
millions of people of the great benefits bestowed on them by the waters of these
rivers.
The British had built the Agra canal with its headworks at Okhla but it was
the successor Indian Govt. that progressively diverted more Yamuna waters from
Wazirabad, , virtually stopping its flow today during the non monsoon months.
With heavy inflow of sewage the river is virtually a drain of Delhi. A World
Health Organisation report on pollution in Delhi has estimated the sewage flows
in Delhi is about 1500 million litres per day. Of this nearly half is non-treated
sewage from domestic and industrial users. This includes nearly 450 tonnes of
dissolved solids and over 200 tonnes of suspended solids. The Escherichia Coli
Count at Wazirabad is 75/ml, while that at Okhla is 240,000/-ml. or some 4800
times higher than the safe limit of 50.
In the case of the Ganga, bacteriophage which is the essence of "Ganga
Jal", kills bacteria, but is unfortunately itself being destroyed by the
toxic effluents from towns like Farrukhabad and Kanpur. For nine months of the
years there is no "Ganga Jal" in the river Ganga. Fisheries have been
destroyed in both rivers and lacs of fishermen have been deprived of employment.
The only fresh water dolphin of the world the Ganga "Sonse" is on
the endangered species list. Navigation in the river Ganga, which had flourished
till 10 to 15 years ago has come to grinding halt due to very shallow depth
of this great river. Pilgrims, who bathe in these holy rivers and drink some
of their waters through the religious practice of 'Aachman' are in danger of
being affected by serious diseases, and are thereby denied the security of practicing
their religion, guaranteed by Article 25 of the Constitution of India. Low flows
in the Ganga is also resulting in the very small recharge of aquifers in Bengal,
which has led to little dilution with toxins and arsenic present in the deeper
aquifers, leading to serious health hazards for millions of people in over half
the districts of this State.
The saga of the 1,376 km river remains murky. Lifeline to some 60 million people,
a mere 2 per cent of its length accounts for the bulk of pollution: 71 per cent
of the wastewater problem, and 55 percent of the biochemical oxygen demand (BOD)
load is released into the river daily, in fact - from New Delhi!
The ultimate devastation, however, occurs elsewhere. While raw water treatment
plants in Delhi require 15 kgs of chlorine to treat one million gallons (mlg),
their counterparts downstream at Agra require 54 kgs chlorine per mlg! The good
citizens of Agra, around 200 kms from Delhi, are thus forced to imbibe high
levels of chlorine, because Delhi doesn't treat the muck it generates! (Research
in Europe and America suggests that imbibing high levels of chlorine can lead
to colon cancer.) Average value of pollutants in three locations along the YamunaParameter
Upstream of Delhi Delhi (midstream at Nizamuddin) Standard for class 'C' surface
water
Fecal coliform 251 50,185 Incl. in Tot. Coliform
Total coliform 9604 126508 5000 Dissolved oxygen 7.41 3.40 4 BOD 1.18 4.92 3
Source: 'Parivesh' - Highlights 1999, Central Pollution Control Board, p 17.
Almost every plastic bag that you dispose off, lands up in the river, clogging
the last remaining hope.
Safe drinking water……… just another illusion.
Save the Yamuna, Save yourself ......
Please contact
the ‘We For Yamuna’ team or Mr. Rajeev Singh at 4628877, ext-256/404/347
or 4629252 or mail us at weforyamuna@yahoo.com
You could come visit us at : UNDP/UNV 55, Lodi Estate. New Delhi-110003.
