Latest news with #Yamuna:TheAgendaforCleaningtheRiver
The Hindu
09-05-2025
- General
- The Hindu
Yamuna cleaning: Faecal sludge to free flow, CSE report charts new course
The Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), a Delhi-based research and advocacy group, released a comprehensive report on Thursday that calls for immediate and systemic reforms to revive the heavily polluted Yamuna river. The report titled 'Yamuna: The Agenda for Cleaning the River' emphasises the need to collect and treat all faecal sludge from non-sewered areas. It recommends reworking strategies for the Najafgarh and Shahdara drains, which contribute a staggering 84% of the pollution load into the river. Highlighting inefficiencies in current sewage treatment practices, the CSE criticises the discharge of treated water into drains that are already polluted with untreated waste, rendering the treatment process ineffective. 'Each sewage treatment plant (STP) must plan not just how it will treat, but also how it will discharge treated effluents,' the report notes. It also calls for an increase in river flow to improve the river's ability to assimilate waste. This could involve reducing water intake, enhancing storage, and directly discharging clean, treated water into the river. The report raises concerns about unchecked industrial pollution, particularly from units operating in unauthorised areas beyond regulatory oversight. CSE Director General Sunita Narain stated that despite years of investment and legal pressure, the river shows no sign of improvement. 'The agenda for cleaning the river is critical as a 'dead Yamuna' is not just a matter of shame, it also adds to the burden of providing clean water to Delhi as well as to the cities downstream,' Ms. Narain said. '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,' she added. Faecal coliform levels, an indicator of sewage contamination, remain alarmingly high, said the report, which likens the river to a 'sewage canal.'
Indian Express
09-05-2025
- General
- Indian Express
Cleaning Yamuna will require more than money, it will need a plan: CSE
Lack of data on wastewater generation, direct discharge of faecal sludge from desludging tankers into rivers or drains in several locations, and mixing of treated and untreated sewage in the drains – these are some of key reasons for pollution in Yamuna, Delhi-based Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) stated in an assessment released on Thursday. Sunita Narain, director general of CSE — a research and advocacy organisation — told mediapersons: 'The focus of Yamuna Action Plan 2025 has been to build STPs (sewage treatment plants) so that domestic wastewater is intercepted and treated; improve the quality of treatment; build interceptor sewers to tap drains and divert sewage; lay sewage pipeline in unauthorised colonies and treat industrial waste in common effluent treatment plants…' 'All are good ideas… all needed. Then why is the Yamuna still polluted?' she asked. She went on to say, 'We do not know how much wastewater is generated by Delhi… as there is no clear data on Delhi's population in the absence of a regular census or on the amount of unofficial water (groundwater and water supplied by tankers) that residents use… Without the data on wastewater, we must rework the plan.' The report, titled 'Yamuna: The Agenda for Cleaning the River', noted: '…it is clear that cleaning the river will require more than money. It will need a plan, which recognises the reality that Delhi, like many other cities of India, is a city where the bulk of its people live in unauthorised areas, where sewage is not intercepted and therefore, not treated.' Maintaining that there is a need to intercept the sewage and not release it back into the drains that carry untreated sewage, the report stated that it must also be ensured that the 22 drains opening to Yamuna are releasing only clean water. As per the report, the focus of official actions, while 'commendable', has failed to address the issue of pollution because of concerns like – there is no dissolved oxygen in the river beginning from ISBT; Yamuna becoming polluted at Palla, an area located within a few km of the river entering Delhi; and no visible improvement in the river's quality. On how the Delhi government has been trying to curb pollution in Yamuna, the report noted a few measures – enhancement of sewage treatment capacity and its utilisation, tighter discharge norms, laying of sewage pipelines in unauthorised colonies, and controlling industrial pollution. While the government has 28 'approved' industrial areas – effluents from 17 of these are treated in common effluent treatment plants – the report noted that 'the quality of treatment is a matter of concern'. There is also a lack of clarity on the discharge locations post-treatment of these effluents, it added. The CSE recommended a 5-point action agenda in order of priority: – Ensure all faecal sludge is collected from non-sewered areas and treated. 'The state does not have to invest in building and refurbishing costly sewage pipelines. The strategy for faecal sludge management through tankers is faster and more cost-effective,' Narain said, emphasising the need to ensure that all desludging tankers are registered and their movement monitored. – Ensure that treated water is not discharged into drains, where it gets mixed with untreated wastewater. – Ensure full utilisation of the treated wastewater so that they do not add to the pollution load. At present, only 331-473 MLD is reused, which is between 10-14% of the treated wastewater. – Plan upgrade of the STPs based on the reuse of treated water plan and redesign the effluent standards. – Rework plan for the two major drains — Najafgarh and Shahdara. Stating that these contribute to 84% of the pollution load in Yamuna, the report stressed that the government's interceptor drain plan has not been working.
Time of India
08-05-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
Delhi's 2% Yamuna Stretch Behind 80% Of Its Pollution: Why Plan Needs Rethink
New Delhi: The released an agenda report on cleaning the Yamuna in Delhi on Thursday. It suggests that the authorities accept the reality of missing data, reset the current plan and explore a different approach, including curbing the contamination of the Najafgarh and Shahdara report, titled 'Yamuna: The Agenda for Cleaning the River', emphasised the importance of determining the actual volume of sewage being generated in the city rather than relying on estimations. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now It also prioritised addressing the large areas still not connected to the sewage network and advised against releasing treated water into the Narain, director general, CSE, pointed out that while the 22km stretch of the Yamuna in Delhi was merely 2% of the total river, this portion accounted for 80% of the pollution in the river. Though she appreciated the attention the Yamuna was getting, including of the Prime Minister, Narain noted several lacunae in the current plan. She said that while there were 22 drains with outfalls in the river, the Najafgarh and Shahdara drains were responsible for 84% of the total pollution in that the plans for cleaning the Yamuna revolved around the same elements — building sewage-related infrastructure, improving capacities of sewage treatment plants, interceptor drains, treating industrial waste, etc — Narain said, "It's time to reset the plan." She also cited a Delhi Pollution Control Committee report that claimed the city had the capability to treat its further flagged several discrepancies in data, like wastewater generation, faecal desludging, water being consumed in the city, even the population to assess per capita daily consumption of water. "Wastewater is estimated as 80% of supplied water. The problem is that we don't know for sure how much wastewater is being generated since there is no clear data on Delhi's population or the amount of water being supplied through tankers or from groundwater sources," said Narain. "Govt also accepts a 40-60% loss during supply, which means there is no idea of how much sewage is being generated."Narain said, "Accept this reality so that we can devise a proper plan." The CSE report said that despite actions like increasing STP capacities, installing interceptor drains, laying sewage pipelines in unauthorised colonies and controlling industrial pollution, Yamuna continued to be suggested prioritising five points to clean the Yamuna, starting with tapping the faecal sludge, while asserting that the state need not invest in building and refurbishing costly sewage pipelines as managing faecal sludge using tankers was faster and more cost-effective. The key, however, is to ensure that all desludging tankers were registered and their movement is monitored to ensure all septage was taken to treatment plants. CSE said that vast areas in Delhi depended on desludging tankers for removal of excreta and these vehicles discharged their load into the river or also said that currently 10-14% of treated water was reused and urged not mixing the treated and untreated wastewater by discharging them into drains. It also recommended reworking the plan for Najafgarh and Shahdara drains, with the report stating that the "interceptor drain plan is not working for these two drains; despite investment, pollution is increasing. Delhi needs to rework and focus on drains that contribute the bulk of pollution into the river".
