Yamuna cleaning becomes a favourite pastime

Amitabh Shukla

Cleaning the river Yamuna has become a favourite pastime of the Delhi bureaucracy and their political masters. Whenever questions are raised about the river getting dirtier, they claim to be cleaning it and supplement with a fresh and costly proposal. Now, a part of the officialdom is praying to the heavens for a good monsoon. "It would wash away all the filth and pollutants in the river to Uttar Pradesh and our problems would be solved, at least temporarily," said an official. Ironically, the official was quite serious giving this statement.

Sample the facts as put together by the report of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) on the measures of control water pollution in the river Yamuna in Delhi. The water in the river continues to be relentlessly polluted by the domestic and industrial sewage generated in the national Capital. While the water quality of the river at the point of its entry into Delhi at Palla is adequate to sustain aquatic life and confirms to the water quality of "bathing" standards, it is rendered unfit for any purpose by the time it exits Delhi at Okhla.

Interestingly, all this when the government has already spent almost Rs 1500 crores in the last 12 years on its "claims of cleaning the river". The experts might disagree on the methods to be adopted for cleaning the river but are unanimous on one point – the pollution in the river has only increased even as this money was being allegedly pumped into cleaning it.

The latest twist in the long list of Yamuna tale is the decision of the government to float global tenders for the appointment of a consultant to suggest ways and means of cleaning the river. The Delhi Jal Board, under the Delhi government, has invited bids from experts in the field of river cleaning. The move is a belated admission by the government that all earlier efforts to clean the river have failed and they need a fresh set of people to look into the issue afresh. So, it could well be an American, French, English or any other firm which will probably take up the responsibility of something in which we ourselves failed miserably.

The decision to appoint global consultants was taken in view of the imminent release of funds for the Yamuna Action Plan (YAP), Phase II. The Japanese Bank of International Cooperation would assist in the funding of the over Rs 600 crore project in which a chunk of money (approximately Rs 400 crores) would be given to the Delhi government. A token amount of the fund has already reached the government. Environmentalists and even some government officials believe that the move to appoint global consultants is linked to the release of funds. "They have to devise a mechanism to spend the fund irrespective of whether it contributes in the cleaning of the river," said an expert. He cites the failure of the YAP I funds to buttress his point.

According to the terms of the bid document, the consultant would carry out field studies, study and analyse the existing data, discuss and evaluate the merits and demerits of various recommendations and then suggest proposals and their implementation in a time frame of two to three years. It is not clear whether it would be the last effort in cleaning the river or just another exercise in the long-drawn out and perpetual plan of the government.

The river, originating from the Yamunotri Glacier in Uttaranchal, merges with the Ganga at Allahabad and has a length of 1376 kms in between. It traverses a path of 22 kms in Delhi. In this span of 22 kms, the government over the years has allowed the discharge of 17 drains in the river. All these drains were meant for rain and storm water over the decades. However, in the last 20 years or so, they discharge only carry sewage.

Of the 17 drains, Najafgarh and Shahdara drains contribute most to the pollution in the river. While the Shahdara drain contributed 20 percent of volume of untreated water in the river, the pollution level of this volume was close to 37 percent. Similarly, the Najafgarh drain contributed 60 percent of the volume of untreated water in the river while its pollution content was 39 percent.

All the planners have failed to tame these two monster of drains which has practically converted Delhi into a city without any river but only an enlarged and oversized drain in the form of the Yamuna. The policy planners have a ready-made excuse here also. They blame over 1500 unauthorised colonies in Delhi which do not have proper sewer connections and discharge their effluents in the drains. These officials have advocated another white elephant – construction of decentralised treatment plants at local levels.

The sewage treatment "achievement" of the government agencies is all the more miserable. Only 1847 million litres a day (MLD) of sewage is being treated in Delhi at present though 3167 MLD was being generated. The rest fall in the river untreated. Even the installed capacity is to treat 2900 MLD of sewerage but the treatment plants have never worked to their capacity. None of the government departments are willing to take the blame. They cite some silly excuse or the other for failure of the sewage treatment plants to their full capacity. For instance in a recent meeting the officials blamed the residents for throwing dismantled construction material and tyres in the drains which makes the treatment difficult.

To find an excuse to visit London, the officials have suggested the constitution of a "Yamuna Cleaning Authority" on the lines of the "Thames Cleaning Authority" in London. Thankfully, the proposal has been nipped in the bud.

The river, supposed to the lifeline of the city, has been relegated into the city's backyard and dumping ground for waste. With the Commonwealth Games to be held in the city in 2010, the government has once again made plans to clean the river and set-up sporting facilities and tourist centres on the banks of the Yamuna. Official pronouncements notwithstanding, fifteen million people living in the city and millions in the country who see some sort of divinity in this river are awaiting an honest effort from the government. (June 2005)