It’s the year 2021 and the national capital is still grappling with hazardous air quality and toxic water. The social media platforms are once again flooded with images and videos of ‘toxic Yamuna’ with no clear solution to the air-water crisis.
Visuals of toxic foam on the Yamuna River caused by air pollution.#YamunaRiver pic.twitter.com/2PXaVCekHC
— News18 (@CNNnews18) November 8, 2021
However, in yet another serious attempt to purify the ‘air and water,’ the Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP government has done the unimaginable- ‘extend the deadline.’
Deputy chief minister of Delhi, Manish Sisodia while presenting the AAP government’s budget for 2021-2022 in March had claimed that the Yamuna river will be fully cleaned in the next three years.
He had also announced that a provision of Rs 2,074 crore has been made in this regard.
‘Readying to clean Yamuna’
In September this year, Delhi’s water minister Satyendra Jain had claimed that the AAP government was planning to treat around 155 million gallons per day (MGD) of wastewater coming from Haryana and Uttar Pradesh into the Yamuna.
One more meeting was held with officials from Delhi Jal Board and the Irrigation and Flood Control department to lay down a ‘master plan’ to clean all the sources that pollute the river.
Delhi’s AAP government pledges to clean Yamuna river.
— AAP Mysuru (@AAPMysuru) September 17, 2021
Irrigation Minister Satyendra Jain, in a meeting with water board officials, has suggested taking steps to refine 150 MGD of water which comes from neighboring states.#AamAadmiParty #AAP #AapMysuru #Mysore pic.twitter.com/szGhXnbMUs
The minister had said that the drains from the neighbouring states would either be diverted to sewage treatment plants (STP) or undergo treatment. He also said that the treated water would be used to revive lakes and water bodies.
Harping on the ‘three-year Yamuna clean’ promise, Jain had further said, “The Yamuna is a holy river. It’s a river that we all pray to and seek blessings from. It does not belong to a particular state but to the whole country.” Deflecting the blame on other states, Jain said that the neighbours of Delhi polluting the river should also take steps.
“..but we are taking additional responsibility upon ourselves because it is our commitment to the citizens of Delhi that we will clean it within three years,” added the AAP minister.
The minister in 2020 had claimed that the Delhi government is firm on reviving the river in the next three to four years.
Dirty water and industrial waste come in Yamuna river from Badshahpur, Haryana and Sahibabad, UP. We are committed to cleaning the river in the next 3-4 years. If there is any pollution causing factory in Delhi, strict action will be taken: Delhi Health Minister Satyendra Jain pic.twitter.com/0OKKpZ65Q2
— ANI (@ANI) July 25, 2020
Nonetheless, a thick envelope of toxic carcinogenic foam continues to pollute the Yamuna river.
‘Tareekh pe Tareekh’
The series of issuing dates after dates for cleaning the Yamuna by the Delhi government has been going on since the year 2015. Delhi’s Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in 2015 had promised to clean the Yamuna river within 5 years (by 2020).
Stories of Yamuna by @ArvindKejriwal pic.twitter.com/xdJ3xVfiSl
— exsecular (@ExSecular) November 8, 2021
He had made this promise standing on the banks of the river along with his cabinet colleagues and senior Delhi government officials, who had taken part in the first ‘Yamuna Aarti’ held at the Kudesia Ghat.
The aarti was conducted in a very Dharmic style with priests from Varanasi who were specially invited for the program chanting Vedic hymns.
As per a 2015 Mint report, Kejriwal had boasted, “We will revive Yamuna within five years,” adding that the government has a plan to stop the flow of drains in the Yamuna in the next 1-2 years.
The case of ‘missing deadline’
While the Delhi government ministers continue to blame Haryana and UP for the menace, it is Delhi Jal Board’s (DJB) duty to treat the sewage.
Reportedly, the national capital generates 720 million gallons per day (MGD) of sewage. However, the current STPs have a capacity of treating 597.26 MGD per day.
The DJB had assured the National Green Tribunal’s (NGT) monitoring panel that it will increase the utilization of the existing STPs to 99% by June 2019, but more than two years after missing the deadline, the utilization stands at just 86%.
Issuing a new date, the Delhi government in a report from July had stated, “Entire flow (of sewage in drains) shall be trapped and treated by March 2023 after construction/rehabilitation of Coronation Pillar, Rithala and Kondli STP under YAP-III.”
‘Water supply disrupted due to Ammonia spike in Yamuna’
The water supply in several locations of Delhi was disrupted as the production at the treatment plants in the city was hit due to an increase in ammonia in the Yamuna river near Wazirabad.
Delhi: Water supply takes a hit with the rise in ammonia levels in Yamuna River
— ANI (@ANI) November 7, 2021
We don’t have a water supply since yesterday, & this happens every 2 months. Tap water is yellowish & pungent, so we have to buy water from shops: Neeti Verma, Yamuna Vihar resident pic.twitter.com/vPTtzKB6nV
AAP leader and the Vice Chairman of the Delhi Jal Board, Raghav Chadda in an innovative response claimed that since Delhi does not have its own private river, it has to depend on ‘treated water’ for consumption.
दिल्ली के पास अपनी कोई नदीं तो है नहीं इसलिए पड़ोसी राज्यों से आने वाले पानी को हम ‘वाटर ट्रीटमेंट प्लांट’ में साफ कर घरों तक पुंचाते हैं। यमुना नदी में अमोनिया का स्तर बढ़ गया है: AAP नेता और दिल्ली जल बोर्ड के उपाध्यक्ष राघव चड्डा pic.twitter.com/3pYbTuzfG1
— ANI_HindiNews (@AHindinews) November 7, 2021
BJP starts ‘clean Yamuna’ drive
The Bhartiya Janta Party’s (BJP) Delhi unit had launched a cleanliness drive in September this year to clean the Yamuna at 71 locations as part of the ‘Sewa and Samarpan’ program.
“It is the responsibility of the Delhi government to get rid of pollution from the river but as Delhiites it is our duty to volunteer in this effort so that when the Chhath festival comes it can be celebrated in a clean atmosphere,” lamented Delhi BJP president Adesh Gupta.
With the commencement of Chatth Puja, the BJP workers continue to clean the river for the convenience of the devotees.
However, some devotees today were seen performing puja in the toxic river risking their health.
People take dip in Yamuna river near Kalindi Kunj in Delhi on the first day of #ChhathPuja amid toxic foam pic.twitter.com/nrmzckRgdq
— ANI (@ANI) November 8, 2021
Near seven years after AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal first promised to clean the Yamuna, the river continues to be engulfed in toxic foam to date.
