River in Noida turns red: ‘it’s bleeding to death’

The Hindon river in Noida has turned red due to dye (Image credit: @vikrant.tongad/Facebook)

A stretch of the Hindon river running through Bahlolpur village in Noida, Uttar Pradesh, has turned red, but residents of the area are not surprised. In fact, villagers are used to seeing the waters of Hindon run sometimes red, sometimes yellow and sometimes pitch black, thanks to the several illegal dyeing units that have cropped up around the area, reports Times of India.

Despite several government and judicial directives, sewage and industrial waste continues to be discharged into the Hindon river, which is a tributary of the Yamuna.

Sonu Yadav is today in his 80s, and has lived on the banks of the river all his life. He says the recent blood-red colour of the water is a metaphor for the river ‘bleeding to death’.

"When I was young, there were no dyeing units in the village, nor were there residential colonies. The river was full of fish and villagers cultivated crops on its banks. The fish and the farmlands are long gone. What's left is a cesspool," Yadav told Times of India.

Environmentalist Vikrant Tongad shared a picture of Hindon river’s red water on Facebook to draw wider attention to the problem.

The Uttar Pradesh Pollution Control Board (UPPCB) says it has asked for the power connection to these illegal dyeing units be cut. More than 30 such dyeing units are active in the area.

“We received a video of red dye being released into the river on Monday,” said UPPCB regional officer Praveen Kumar, adding that a team was sent to the area immediately and identified 10 such units – but the actual number is more.

Kumar said that they have requested Noida authorities to snap the power connection for these unauthorised units.

The action may be too little, too late for Bahlolpur villagers who have stopped using river water, fearing it may be contaminated.