As was the case last year the three- day Clean Yamuna Shramdaan has been launched on 2 June, 2003 this year as well from the Sur Ghat situated on the west bank of the Yamuna near Wazirabad with appeals to Delhi residents to desist from dumping their waste in the river.

Sheila Dixit, Chief Minister of National Capital Region also took part in the cleaning exercise. Although P K Tripathi, the chief executive officer Delhi Jal Board confessed recently that the Supreme court deadline to stop untreated sewage water from entering Yamuna cannot be enforced because our Sewage Treatment Plants (STP) and Effluent Treatment Plants (ETP) cannot treat human waste and several other contaminants.

Earlier, the Supreme Court had directed the Delhi Government to file an affidavit assuring the Court that by March 2003 no untreated sewage water would enter the Yamuna river on 6 November, 2002. A three-Judge Bench comprising Mr. Justice B.N. Kirpal, Mr. Justice K.G. Balakrishnan and Mr. Justice Arijit Pasayat had said, the parameters laid down by the Government itself were not being followed. They had expressed concern over the deterioration of water quality resulting in a serious health hazard to the inhabitants of Delhi.

The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) submitted that there had been no improvement in the water quality of the river for the past two to three years. It said the coliform, permissible level which is 5,000 per 100 millilitre as per the national standard, was exceeding seven crore in number at Nizamuddin though the same was only 7,600 when the river entered Delhi at Palla. Of the coliform, the deadly faecal coliform counted up to 1 crore 41 lakh per 100 ml at Nizamuddin though as per standards no faecal coliform should be present.

The Bench had said, it was for the government to decide how this was to be achieved and to ensure and direct that the parameters laid down in the statutes with respect to the quality of water were implemented. It had asked the Delhi Administration to file an affidavit within two weeks giving the time schedule for what it proposed to do so that by March 2003 no untreated sewage would enter the Yamuna.

Even as residents seek permanent measures to improve the situation and CPCB says the quality of water in Yamuna continues to deteriorate, Delhi chief minister says, she has noticed visible reduction in the levels of solid waste discharged in the river. Only making restraining polluting industries and improving the sewage system in the city, which is in absolute disarray, can clean up the river. Several programmes under the Yamuna Action Plan still remain unfulfilled.

Second phase of Yamuna Action Plan (YAP)

According to a Japanese Embassy’s Press Release of March 28, 2003, the Second Phase of Yamuna Action Plan will receive a loan assistance of ¥13,333 million (approx. 525 crore rupees). The project covering the States of Haryana, Delhi and Uttar Pradesh is to be implemented by the Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India. It involves construction of sewage treatment facilities to prevent untreated water from entering into the River Yamuna, and thereby help improving the quality of water in the river.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Japan Ms. Yoriko Kawaguchi, during her official visit to India had announced this loam assistance on January 9, 2003 as part of Government of Japan's offer of a 110.344 billion yen (approximately Rs.4,434 crore) package of soft loans as Official Development Assistance (ODA) during 2002-03.

Ministry of Environment and Forests said have been negotiating with the Japan Bank of International Cooperation for the second phase of Yamuna Action Plan, in which Delhi was to have a major share. The union environment ministry had palns to offer an integrated package to Delhi, at a cost sharing ratio of 70:30, between the Central and Delhi Government." Delhi Chief Minister Mrs. Sheila Dikshit was to agree to bear 30 per cent cost of the proposed Yamuna Action Plan II.

Second phase of YAP in Delhi is to ensure that all the 19 drains which are discharging partly treated and partly untreated waste water into the river are diverted. In the same way, the 38 tributary drains of Najafgarh drain, which are responsible for about 65 per cent of the pollution of Yamuna will have to be tapped and diverted. Additional sewage treatment capacity is to be put in place with the decentralized approach. The emphasis will be on locating the new STPs as close to the river mouth as possible so that the use of conveying pipes is minimized. The dilapidated trunk sewerage system should be rehabilitated and restored as early as possible so that the entire captured waste water is fully treated.

It will also focus on disinfection of treated sewage to ensure that not only the organic pollution but also the bacteria caused pollution is tackled fully. With these arrangements in place and with the commissioning of all the 15 common effluent treatment plants in the 21 industrial estates that are presently under construction, the treated wastewater that will be discharged into the river will be of safe quality. The river must have a minimum fresh water flow with an additional perennial fresh water flow of 10 cumecs into the river, it will be possible to restore the water quality of Yamuna back to normal.

Yamuna, the lifeline of Delhi quenching majority of its population's thirst is currently in a veritable mess. Everyday the river is polluted by untreated domestic sewage, industrial effluents, fly ash and other chemicals that the river is supposed to cleanse.

Sources of Pollution

The sources of river pollution of can be classified broadly into two categories:;

(i) Point sources - these are organised sources of pollution where the pollution load can be measured e.g. surface drains carrying municipal sewage or industrial effluents, sewage pumping stations and sewerage systems, trade effluents from industries etc.

(ii) Non-point sources - these are non-measurable sources of pollution such as run-off from agricultural fields carrying chemicals and fertilizers, run-off from areas used for dumping of solid waste and open defecation, dumping of unburnt/half burnt dead bodies and animal carcasses, dhobi ghats, cattle wallowing, mass bathing, floral offerings etc.

Yamuna awaits a miracle

Delhi government dreams for a miracle which remains a pipe dream even after the Supreme Court's March 31, 2003 deadline is over. Chief Minister keeps inaugurating campaigns involving NGOs and citizens for cleaning up the river year just to give a symbolic expression to her worry. Industrial effluents can be controlled because it comes from one source. Domestic effluents are also difficult to purify because of the pathetic drainage network. But both central and the state government remain callous and keep indulging in the annual ritual on environment days.

Flushing it down

Alternative toilets bins are urgently needed where the faecal matter was being stored before composting and were regaled with information about how urine could be separated in the toilet and used directly for agriculture. Nearly 10 per cent of the 6 Lakh jhuggies in Delhi are situated on the banks of the Yamuna without any sewage facility and the entire waste from these slums finds its way into the Yamuna. The toilet facilities provided to these slum dwellers without any running water facility rendering the entire project useless.

First Phase of Yamuna Action Plan

The government had launched the Yamuna Action Plan in 1993 in Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Delhi to clean the Yamuna river. In the first phase of this Plan which has been completed, it has spent Rs.480 crore. The share of Delhi in this Plan was only 4 per cent. This was mainly for the reason that the Government of Delhi had been implementing various works out of its own plan funds.

Rs.166 crore project was approved for Delhi in May, 2001. Under this project, a focussed effort was made to deal with the growing problem of sanitation in the unsewered areas of Delhi, particularly the slums. The project consisted of nearly 1000 community toilet complexes besides several decentralized sewage treatment plants and sewer cleaning equipment.

According to the Union Environment and Forests, works on the Yamuna Action Plan are in a fairly advanced stage. Under this Plan, pollution abatement works in 6 towns of Haryana and 8 towns of U.P. besides Delhi were originally proposed. Later, on the directions of the Supreme Court, 6 additional towns in Haryana were included in the Action Plan. Against the present approved cost of Rs.509.45 crore, an amount of Rs. 314.12 crore was released by the government of India to the three states. About 744 mld of sewage was proposed to be intercepted, diverted and treated under this plan. The Action Plan was likely to be completed by March, 2000, the website of Union Environment and Forests declares so even today.

Cleanliness, a wasted effort

According to a report by the Asian Centre for Organisation Research and Development (ACORD), Delhi is one of the dirtiest cities in the world and produces nearly 8,000 tonnes of waste every day. But the city that houses nearly 13 million people does not have an adequate waste management system. The scene is equally squalid in the case of sewage treatment.

Although Delhi generates nearly 3,000 million litres of sewage per day, according to a Centre for Science and Enviornment report, "around 1,800 million litres of untreated domestic waste and another 300 million liters of industrial waste end up in the river Yamuna daily. The 18 major drains of the city discharge into the Yamuna.

Efforts to clean Yamuna have ended up as photo opportunities, while the actual problems are still unaddressed. The authorities have recognised the untreated sewage flowing into the river as the chief pollutant and spent crores of rupees on sewage treatment plants which are non-functional. Similar steps were taken to prevent pollution in Ganges failed as the sewage treatment plants (STP) required electricity round the clock.

Delhi gets 11 per cent of its water supply from ground water, 17 per cent from Uttar Pradesh, 19 per cent from Haryana and the remaining 53 per cent from the Yamuna.

According to the Central Pollution Control Board, Yamuna water falls under category E, making it fit only for recreation and industrial cooling. It is not even fit for wildlife and fisheries let alone a source for drinking water.

The challenge of reducing the impact of pollutants from the domestic and the industrial sectors to save the Yamuna stares both the central and state government. But the real culprits are polluting industrial sectors whose naked lust for profit has killed Yamuna, it can be retrieved only if industries are made to stop their polluting acts and STPs and ETPs for sewaste and effluent do not remain defunct.