In the festival times, we saw Chhath devotees with picturesque white and heavenly cloud like thing floating above the waters but only if we don’t know, these were more than what they appear.
The froth which is still floating over Yamuna is a sign of severe pollution and grave danger to its health and of those connected to it in some way.
According to the waste management experts, an untreated or rather under treated sewage and industrial waste directly released into the waters cause lead to creation of such toxic foam-laden waters.
How does this froth gets formed?
Specifically, phosphates release in waters can lead to such froth, that comes in specially from the detergents or disinfectants used in the households for cleaning and later released in the drainage.
Therefore, presence of Industrial effluents, coupled with the organic wastes from partially decomposed vegetation and filamentous bacteria create foam.
But it has been indicated that this may have even come from the peripheral belts which are not even connected to the city’s sewerage system.
Strangling Delhiites at the same time: water and air
Every October- November, it gets tougher to breathe in the city due to severe air quality arising out of paddy burning, celebration of festivities and the wind systems that engulfs the entire city and even surrounding 19 districts.
Now, at the same time, if even the waters turn unhealthy, there is something fishy at play.
Indeed, its because of us, the wise human beings, who keep looking to exploit for more and more out of our environment.
The timing has undoubtedly, played a role too. This is a lean phase for the river i.e., a time when the water flow is less. It gets saturated with the pollutants as the river reaches a specific location in Delhi.
Yamuna’s flow has been restricted at three locations in Delhi to sustain the water supply in order to meet the ever-growing demands of the city people: Wazirabad, ITO and Okhla barrages.
Once it passes through the barrage near Okhla Industrial estate, the falling water causes the fatty foaming agents in wastewater or sludge to get agitated and the foam gets produced.
The river with total length of 1370 kms has its most poisonous stretch between Wazirabad and Okhla accounting for only 2% of the total stretch but around 80% of the total pollution load in the river.
This happens as the load of pollutants, at this point near Okhla, gets highly loaded.
More precisely, the CPCB has narrowed it to two locations where the foams get produced: downstream of the ITO and Okhla barrages. However, the report belongs to august last year.
And this has necessitated CPCB to investigate again in collaboration with Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) and submit in report the exact causes and locations to curtail the extent of such event.
Another previous year report by DPCC states that the highest phosphates concentration of 13.42 mg/litre was found around Khajoori Paltoon and at the Okhla barrage, was 12.26 mg/litre.
It is also to note that these levels of toxins in water are not checked daily or periodically, rather only when the need arises.
Impacts of such toxic froth:
Short-term: skin irritation, allergies when in contact and if eaten, may cause gastro-intestinal problems or diseases e.g., typhoid.
Long term: Exposure to heavy metals present in it can lead to neurological as well as hormonal imbalances.
Responsibility for such toxic condition and the blame game:
According to the Delhi Jal Board, the froths only come out near Kalindi Kunj, south of the Okhla barrage which is maintained by the Irrigation Department of Uttar Pradesh government.
Had it been Delhi’s sewage, the froths would have formed starting at Wazirabad barrage and travel across the entire stretch of the river in the city.
He explains: “There is a drain that comes from UP and empties into the river near Kalindi Kunj. The drain contains untreated sewage that pollutes the river.”
“Around 155 MGD of water reaches the Okhla barrage with all sorts of waste, industrial discharge, chemicals and detergents. Of this, 105 MGD is released by the Haryana government into the Yamuna through the Najafgarh drain.”
“The remaining 50 MGD is released by the UP government. The water falls from a height, so the untreated waste turns into foam. We have written multiple times to the UP government to treat the water before releasing it, but we keep seeing this.”
Although DPCC beforehand in July 2021, banned the storage, distribution and even transportation of those soaps and detergents failing to meet the quality standards provided by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS).
But according to experts in the field, such a target lacks enforcement: “The role of regulatory bodies like CPCB, DPCC and PCBs is generally limited to implementing discharge/effluent standards”.