Despite spending Rs 7,000 crore, Yamuna in Delhi is no better than before: MC Analysis

Murky waters

Delhi has spent over Rs 7,000 crore on Yamuna river's cleaning since 2017 but has very little to show in terms of progress, according to a Moneycontrol analysis.

In the case of Delhi, Biochemical Oxygen Demand or BOD levels, which indicate water pollution, were higher in 2023 as compared to twenty years ago.

While BOD levels had started declining since 2013, they have risen again post-pandemic. In Delhi’s case, the BOD levels were, in some instances, over 10 or 15 times above the prescribed limit.

Data shows that when Yamuna enters Delhi at Palla, BOD levels were around the prescribed limit of 3 mg per litre in 2023, but they were 16 times higher at Asgarpur, where the river exits the national capital.

In June, the BOD levels were 42 times more in Asgarpur at 84 mg per litre compared with 2 mg per litre in Palla.

In 2018, the difference between the two was 10 times, while it was 8.8 times in 2013.

Recent reports suggest that it is not just BOD levels that are a concern.

The faecel coliform levels, which indicate untreated sewage, were 1,959 times higher than the standard of 2,500 and nearly 10,000 times more than the desired level of 500 units per 100 ml of water in September.

The Delhi government has allocated over Rs 200 crore for Yamuna cleaning for the current fiscal.

But Delhi is not the only culprit. Reports submitted to the NGT by the governments of Delhi, UP and Haryana in January 2024 indicated severe deficiencies in implementing the rejuvenation programme.

In the case of Delhi, for instance, only nine of the 22 drains were tapped, with the rest discharging massive amounts of sewage into the river. At the same time, Haryana had no data on the segregation of treated and untreated sewage, and UP was not tapping 14 drains flowing into the Yamuna river.

Centre has spent over Rs 15,000 crore on the Clean Ganga programme—some of this has also gone to Delhi for Yamuna clean-up—since FY15 but has made incremental gains.