As Delhi nears full capacity for treating sewage waste by expanding its treatment plants, the Yamuna River, once the lifeline of the capital, still struggles to regain its vitality. The issue isn’t a lack of intent, action, or funding, but rather the failure to reassess and adapt strategies, as reports indicate minimal improvement despite meeting planned targets.
“We must realise that cleaning the Yamuna will require much more than money. It will need a reworked plan which will guide us towards thinking and acting differently,” said Sunita Narain, Director General, Centre for Science and Environment, a Delhi-based climate think tank.
Sunita Narain, Director General of CSE, called for a reset in the action agenda for cleaning the Yamuna River in Delhi-NCR, releasing a report Thursday highlighting the need for new strategies.
The report highlights that the 22-km stretch of the Yamuna in Delhi, which accounts for barely 2 per cent of the total length of the river basin, contributes over 80 per cent of the pollution load in the entire river. More importantly, the majority of Delhi’s pollution load — a whopping 84 per cent— comes from two drains: Najafgarh and Shahdara. This is despite the launch of the Delhi Jal Board’s Interceptor Sewer Project (ISP) in 2010 for Shahdara, Barapullah, and Najafgarh drains.
What are problems in the current action plan and how to fix them?
According to CSE experts, three key factors contribute to the Yamuna’s persistent pollution despite decades of cleanup efforts: inaccurate wastewater data, unregulated discharge of untreated waste by untracked desludging tankers, and mixing of treated and untreated wastewater in drains, which re-contaminates the river. These areas require urgent attention to effectively address the pollution.
During the conference, Narain explained that accurate population data is essential for calculating Delhi’s water demand and wastewater generation. Without updated census data, “we don’t know how much wastewater Delhi generates,” she said. Furthermore, Delhi’s water needs are partly met by unaccounted sources like groundwater and tanker suppliers, undermining calculations for Sewage Treatment Plant (STP) infrastructure and hindering Yamuna cleaning targets.
The CSE report notes that many areas in Delhi, not connected to sewer lines, rely on desludging tankers for waste removal. While supporting this approach, Narain advocates for improved implementation through measures like GPS tracking systems, successfully adopted in some Uttar Pradesh cities, to ensure collected sewage reaches STPs for treatment and reuse.
The report highlights a critical issue: treated water from distant drains mixes with untreated wastewater downstream, nullifying treatment efforts. Currently, only 10-15% of treated wastewater is reused. To address this, the report proposes maximizing the reuse of treated water for purposes like agriculture, horticulture, industry, or other non-potable uses, rather than releasing it back into the river and exacerbating pollution.