Salvaging Yamuna: A Report

River Yamuna, also sometimes called Jamuna or Jumna is a key tributary river of Ganga River in northern India. Possessing a total length of about 1,370 kilometers, it is the largest tributary of Ganga. Originating from Yamunotri in the Uttarakhand, which is north of the Himalayan mountains, River Yamuna flows through the states of Delhi, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, before merging with River Ganga at Allahabad. It is noteworthy that the cities of Baghpat, Delhi, Noida, Mathura, Agra, Etawah, Kalpi, Hamirpur and Allahabad are situated on the banks of river Yamuna.

After originating from Yamunotri, River Yamuna covers a distance of 170 km in the hills of Uttarakhand, passing through the elevated valley of Dehradun, cutting through Shivalik hills to enter the plains of Haryana and Uttar Pradesh. Tons and Asan in Uttarakhand and Kamal and Giri in Himachal Pradesh are the main tributaries of River Yamuna. At its place of origin, there is situated a temple dedicated to Goddess Yamuna and the hot water pool located nearby serves as the place for preparing Prasad.

According to mythological accounts, Yamuna is the daughter of Surya and Sharanyu and the twin sister of Yama, the god of death. Many legends of the childhood of Lord Krishna are associated with River Yamuna. With this mythological background, River Yamuna is the symbol of religion and sacredness for majority of the people inhabiting its banks.    

River Yamuna in Delhi Stretch

The River Yamuna in Delhi is a highly braided system due to construction of embankments all along the stretch for flood protection. The floodplain area restricted within two bunds cover an area of 94.84 sq. km. the longitudinal and lateral flows of water within the stretch essentially determine the floodplain of the river system. The rainfall, confined to the monsoon from July to October, results in the lateral flow of water after attaining bank-full level of the river channel. The river is left with limited flood plain area for inundation even during monsoon. The maximum width of active floodplain is observed near Okhla where a large quantum of water is brought through Hindon cut.

The channel morphology in this area also helps to maintaining a large floodplain area subjected to inundation almost throughout the year. Four zones have been identified in the river stretch based on hydrological features water quality characteristics and biodiversity. These zones include: zone I from Jhangola to upstream Wazirabad barrage; zone II from downstream Wazirabad barrage to upstream ITO; zone III from ITO downstream to upstream Okhla and zone IV from Okhla downstream to Jaitpur. Zone I is observed to be relatively cleaner compared to zones II and IV, which are highly polluted due to discharge of sewage and industrial pollutants brought in by various drains. Zone III may be designated as the restoration zone where water quality was slightly improved due to large floodplain area created by inflow of water from Hindon cut. Hydrological regimes essentially govern water quality characteristics.

Pollution Level in River Yamuna

According to broad estimates, India consumes about 86,311 tonnes of technical-grade insecticides annually to cover 182.5 million hectare of its land. Most Indian rivers pass through agricultural areas that use pesticides. This makes leaching from agricultural fields the most serious non-point — unspecified, and therefore, not measurable accurately — source of pollution to the aquatic environment. A study conducted in 1995 found traces of isomers (a carcinogenic organochlorine) in Indian rivers, including the Yamuna.

Viewed in a broad spectrum, about 57 million people depend on Yamuna waters. With an annual flow of about 10,000 cubic metres (cum) and usage of 4,400 cum (of which irrigation constitutes 96 per cent), the river accounts for more than 70 per cent of Delhi’s water supplies. Available water treatment facilities are not capable of removing the pesticide traces. Waterworks laboratories cannot even detect them. Worse, Yamuna leaves Delhi as a sewer, laden with the city’s biological and chemical wastes. Downstream, at Agra, this becomes the main municipal drinking water source. Here too, existing treatment facilities are no match for the poisons. Thus, consumers in Delhi and Agra ingest unknown amounts of toxic pesticide residues each time they drink water.

The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), on its part, had found endosulphan residues — alpha and beta isomers — in the Yamuna in 1991. An earlier study by H C Agarwal of Delhi University had traced ddt residues amounting to 3,400 nanogram per litre (ng/l). However, later cpcb studies showed reduced ddt levels. To gauge the immensity of the threat, it is necessary to trace the river’s flow — divided in five segments on the basis of hydro-geomorphological and ecological characteristics — down to its final reaches.

Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) data suggests that at Hathnikund, 2-km upstream of Tajewala barrage, Yamuna waters are of A and B category. Category A means that Yamuna at that point is a drinking water source without conventional treatment but other disinfections. Category B means fit for outdoor bathing. Seven-km east of Yamunanagar at Kalanaur provides impact of Som Nadi on water quality putting it in Category C. Here Yamuna is a drinking water source with conventional treatment followed by disinfection. But after that all hells breaks loose and water category degrades to ‘D’ and ‘E’.

Domestic, agricultural and industrial pollution and the lowest value of Dissolved Oxygen (DO) at 0.1mg/lt make Yamuna the most-polluted river in the country. The significance of the figure —0.1mg/lt—can be understood from the fact that in category A, the DO is 6 mg/lt and bathing quality standard 5 mg/lt. DO is the amount of oxygen in mg/lt of river water to sustain acquatic life which should be 4 mg/lt or more.

Yamuna has one of the highest Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD) amongst all rivers in the country at 36mg/lt. It has the highest count in the country of total coliform numbers and faecal coliform numbers at 2.6 billion MPN/100 ml and 1.7 million MPN/100 ml, respectively. BOD is the amount of oxygen needed by bacteria to oxidise one litre of organic waste. For bathing quality standard BOD is 3 mg/lt, meaning there should not be more than 500 fecal coliform—the disease-causing bacteria— per 100 ml of water.

Haryana Factor in Pollution

Viewed in a broad perspective, Yamuna’s pollution starts from Tajewala in the upper segment in Haryana.  Here two canals, the Western Yamuna Canal (WYC) and the Eastern Yamuna Canal (EYC), divert river waters — save in the three monsoon months — into Haryana and Uttar Pradesh (UP). The WYC crosses Yamuna Nagar, Karnal and Panipat before reaching the Haiderpur treatment plant (which supplies part of Delhi’s water), receiving wastewater from Yamuna Nagar and Panipat.

Drain Nos ii and viii branch off the WYC augment the water in the river. Another augmentation canal branches out of the WYC at Yamuna Nagar, and rejoins the canal about 80 km downstream at Karnal. All domestic and industrial discharges from Yamuna Nagar are let out into this canal. Water from the augmentation canal is used for irrigation. However, when excess water from the wyc is let into it, pollutants are flushed into the wyc downstream at Karnal. Thus, a few times a year, there is a sudden and massive increase in pollution loads when the water reaches Haiderpur.

Furthermore, at Panipat, discharges from the Panipat sugar mill and distillery are let out into a disused canal, which has a kutcha dam across it. Sometimes, when the effluents cross the dam, it results in a major increase in biological oxygen demand (BOD) loads in the WYC. A CPCB inspection report estimated that there were 1,00,000 cum of effluents in the disused canal, having a bod level of 1,380 mg/l. According to the report, when this water enters the WYC, it carries with it a total of 125 t of BOD and the BOD levels reach 17 mg/l at Haiderpur; the acceptable bod levels for raw water meant for treatment are three mg/l.

Haryana’s vast agricultural fields are also significant contributors to pollution. The consumption of pesticides in Haryana in the years 1995-96 was to the tune of 5,100 t. Out of this, benzene hexachlorides (BHC) accounted for 600.24 t, malathion 831.48 t and endosulphan, 263.16 t. The state department of agriculture estimates that 12.5 per cent of the Yamuna basin has forest cover, 27.5 is wastelands, 53 per cent is agricultural land; the rest are villages, towns, cities and roads. There are plans to bring 27.5 per cent more under agriculture: this means more abstraction from the river and also greater use and subsequent runoff of fertilisers and pesticides.

Delhi Factor in Pollution

Yamuna enters Delhi at Palla village 15 km upstream of Wazirabad barrage, which acts as a reservoir for Delhi. Delhi generates 1,900 million litre per day (mld) of sewage, against an installed wastewater treatment capacity of 1,270 mld. Thus, 630 mld of untreated and a significant amount of partially treated sewage enter the river every day. The Wazirabad barrage lets out very little water into the river. In summer months especially, the only flow downstream of Wazirabad is of industrial and sewage effluents. Lesser discharge means lesser river flow and thus, greater levels of pollution. From the Okhla barrage, which is the exit point for the river in Delhi, the Agra canal branches out from Yamuna. During the dry months, almost no water is released from this barrage to downstream Yamuna. Instead, discharges from the Shahadara drain join the river downstream of the barrage, bringing effluents from east Delhi and Noida into the river. This is the second largest polluter of the river after the Najafgarh drain.

The main problem lies in undetected and untreated pesticide residues. Waterworks officials in Delhi and Agra point out that pesticide traces cannot be removed with conventional treatment. “Organic substances can be assimilated in freshwater, provided there is enough freshwater in the river,” states R Dalwani, scientist, ministry of environment and forests (MEF). “But for micropollutants such as pesticides, only more freshwater can reduce the percentage of traces in water. These cannot be dissolved or assimilated, but certainly can be diluted to an extent.” The river has a dilution requirement of 75 per cent, which implies that for every 100 litres of wastewater, 75 litres of freshwater is required. Scientists state that with the flow of water, pollutants (especially organic pollutants) degrade to a large extent. But at every step, this purified water is abstracted, and ever larger loads of pollution make their way.

Water Treatment Technologies

Water treatment technologies in practice in the West are expensive, something which India can ill-afford. Besides, it is now widely acknowledged that conventional water treatment processes, based on chemical coagulation and filtration or biological slow sand filtration, have little capacity to remove water-soluble pesticides. Western researchers are coming to the conclusion that protecting the catchment from chemical contamination — by switching to organic or biological farming methods and curtailing the use of pesticides and fertilisers — is possibly the best way to deal with the problem. According to officials of the Sacramento department of utilities, at California, US, which faced problems with pesticide contamination from rice fields upstream: “The problem was resolved by persuading polluting farmers to use pesticides in such a manner that it does not enter surface water.”

Public opinion in India over the issue preservation of rivers and keeping them free from pollution is gaining momentum. Numerous public interest litigations in recent years have forced the Government of India into an alien arena: that of accountability. This has made the Central Pollution Control Board, the Haryana SPCB and other agencies take note of what is getting into the river and the ways and means of lessening such entry. Several polluting units which discharge into the river, and the canals and drains that lead to it, have been forced to install water treatment facilities. However, CPCB officials admit that high operational and maintenance costs of the facilities and the apathy of individual units limit their usage.

Uneven Development
Undoubtedly the Delhi government has ambitious plans to develop a major portion of the Yamuna river banks but uneven pace of development has contributed to spoiling the scenic beauty and grandeur of River Yamuna. A poster hanging on the walls of the office of Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dixit dreams of Delhi where “lush green parks beckon our children to play with joy, and invite our elderly to relax in the sunshine of peace”. Undoubtedly Delhi government this vision is noble and pristine, nevertheless Delhi’s largest open space, the banks of the river Yamuna, is fast becoming a bone of contestation between a host of government agencies and private lobby groups, particularly estate developers. This has rendered the fate of 97 sq km of prime land, 7 per cent of Delhi’s total area, to hang in the balance.

With the unveiling of the Master Plan for Delhi 2021 by the Delhi Development Authority (DDA), which calls for “a strategy for the conservation/development of the Yamuna River Bed area in a systematic manner” and a Delhi High Court decision of 4 June 2008 granting the DDA permission for the acquisition and commercial development of a 25-km-stretch along the river bank, the decks were cleared for the transformation of eastern and central Delhi.

Viewed in a broad spectrum, once regarded as the sewer of the city, the Yamuna’s banks had never been seriously considered real estate. However, a growing demand for real estate and a winning bid for the 2010 Commonwealth Games seem to have brought focus back on river bank development.

According to Delhi government, the Commonwealth Games will play a vital role in making Delhi a ‘world-class’ city as the Games Village will require infrastructure, transportation links and development of the riverfront. East Delhi shall be transformed in the manner south Delhi was during the Asian Games in 1982-83. Delhi shall also bid for the Asian Games and maybe even for the Olympics in the coming years.

According to the bid submitted by the Indian Olympic Association to the Commonwealth Games Federation, the Games Village is planned on 100 acres (40 hectares) on the banks of the Yamuna and will be well connected to the rest of the city by roadways and public transport. The land has already been acquired, the clearances have been granted and construction has begun. However, opposition is mounting from various quarters and has taken many forms.

However, the environmentalists feel that construction on the river bed is inadvisable as the soil is sandy and has low carrying-capacity, a fault line runs through the area on a north-south axis and the area is prone to periodic floods. Further, covering the banks with impermeable concrete would threaten Delhi’s largest groundwater recharge zone. Construction would also lead to the channelling of the river, whereby its meandering course will be restricted by steep embankments. While channelling will make more space available for development and construction of the river banks, it will not do much for the river. Channelling ensures that the amount of water allowed into the river shall never be increased. Any increase will result in the river flooding its embankments. A major reason why the Yamuna is so polluted is that there is not enough water flowing in the river through the Delhi stretch. Construction on the banks would make the river’s rejuvenation close to impossible.

The DDA is silent about its plans for Zones O and P, the Yamuna banks, while the plans for most other zones are available. Based on periodic statements made to the media, the DDA plan seems to consist of an integrated model involving channelling in part of the river, and the development of the banks as green spaces and commercial areas. The proposals are centred on a “Thames-type Plan” and include a water sports complex, a cycling track and heritage walks. In fact, the latest proposal, according to Delhi Government, is to invite an international body such as the Thames River Authority to carry out a feasibility study for the development of the river front. However, nothing is clear in this regard as yet.

Experts feel that contrary to the fond imagination of the DDA and the real estate lobby, the Yamuna banks are not a tabula rasa on which the edifice of a ‘world-class city’ may be erected. The banks are the basis of a complex network of religious, social and economic relations between the river and those residing on its banks; and the residents are legitimately suspicious of any development plan. Institutional development of public areas usually results in their appropriation by the elite and the rapid exclusion of less privileged groups. Lodhi Gardens, Dilli Haat and similar supposedly “public spaces” are examples. At present, the elite have no connection with the river. The only people who engage with the river on a regular basis are those who depend upon it for survival. They shall be the first to be forced off the banks.

Punjabi Ghat, near the Inter-State Bus Terminal, is one of the few access points to the river. This ghat is an important site for offering shradda to Mother Yamuna. Further down the river, women scrub clothes at Dhobi Ghat, coin-divers practise their art, and the pious offer prayers to the river. The banks also provide sites for farming and for a dispersed series of slums, collectively called Yamuna Pushta.

Yamuna Pushta is already experiencing the first signs of riverfront development. In an attempt to curb the pollution of the river, in March 2003, the Delhi High Court directed the State and Central governments to remove all unauthorized structures on the Yamuna’s banks, including places of worship and illegal settlements. A public interest petition contesting the eviction was filed on 5 February 2004, but on the basis of a ruling on 11 February 2004, eviction was resumed.

But Yamuna Pushta is not the only ‘illegal’ settlement on the banks of the river. The Delhi Metro Depot and I.T. Park, near Shastri Park, are both illegal constructions, according to Gita Dewan Verma, author of Slumming India: A Chronicle of Slums and Their Saviours. According to her, “Construction of these two sites began well before the Delhi government issued a `Public Notice for Change of Land Use’.”

It would have been in the fitness of things if the site for 2010 Commonwealth Games would have been selected about 100 km away from Delhi in the NCR region and it could have brought about sea change in the development of that region in terms of infrastructure, roads and estate development as well as it would have been a harbinger of prosperity for that region. Besides, it could have spared Delhi from unnecessary burden.  

The basic problem with drafting plans such as the Master Plan, Zonal Plans and the Yamuna Action Plan is that things rarely go according to plan. Most residential settlements in major cities are established on the basis of settlement and regularization. In Delhi, for instance, only 8 to 12 per cent of residential space comes from master-planning. Thus, actually, the plan becomes an ideological construct that provides privileged sections of society with varying degrees of leverage over their less privileged counterparts. By declaring certain settlements “illegal”, the plan allows for their demolition and for the construction of “legal” structures such as shopping malls, cinema halls and “lung spaces”. However, the need for cheap labour ensures that the working class is not banished altogether. Planning allows for “land use change” by government authorities, which ensures that the state is rarely caught in its own tangles.

Broadly speaking, development plans for the Yamuna and its banks are trapped in a techno-managerial, problem-solving format. This denies the citizens opportunities to engage with the river personally or as a community.

The Yamuna River is no longer seen as a living, breathing entity, but as a problem that must be solved, or as a plan that must be drafted and implemented. Plans are heavily invested in over-arching, centralizing visions of development and force people to think in the same way. Thus, it becomes impossible to view the Yamuna as a series of small areas with different models of development, as opposed to a grand crisscross of walkways, heritage sites and water sport parks. A World Bank-commissioned valuation report prepared by the Delhi University and the Institute of Economic Growth for the Government of India clearly says “no” to development of commercial and residential estates on floodplains and channelization of the river. A report of the National Environmental Engineering Research Institute clearly states that any permanent construction work on Yamuna river-bed would be disastrous.

Despite such warnings, the government and its agencies have gone ahead in full steam for exploiting the Yamuna river-bed. According to DDA’s lay out plan the residential part of the Commonwealth Games village is built right on the banks of the Yamuna and after the 9-day long event gets over, the residential flats will be sold at high rates to bidders, as happened in the Khelgaon. Besides, the PWD is building roads on both sides of Vikas Marg and the river-bed is being filled with mud and fly-ash. This is not only an encroachment on the river-bed but the fly-ash will also contaminate Delhi’s groundwater supply. 

Suggestions

In view of the precarious situation of river Yamuna, in the light of above-mentioned facts, we make following suggestions for salvaging Yamuna:

• Keeping in view the vital national interest and well-being of the people residing along the banks of river Yamuna, particularly in Delhi, all construction work on the river-bed of Yamuna should be stopped. For this purpose, the hosting of the 2010 Commonwealth Games can be deferred to some other time for which India can bid later on.

• River-bed can be used for constructing ponds and pools which can be utilized for rain-water-harvesting, water-sports and preserving grandeur of the river Yamuna. Implementation of such a plan will help preserve and restore the flora and fauna of Yamuna which is currently fading at a faster pace.

• Yamuna should be declared as a National Heritage and a single nodal authority, instead of multiple authorities should be established to look after the maintenance, repair and cleaniness of the river.

• The Government of India’s plan to build a heavy freight canal, known as the Sutlej-Yamuna Link (SYL), which is being built westwards from near its headwaters through the Punjab region near an ancient caravan route and highlands pass to the navigable parts of the Sutlej-Indus watershed can materialize only if the river-bed particularly in Delhi region is kept in good condition and it is made round-the-year-river with clean water flowing in it its banks are replete with greenery.

• Declaring River Yamuna as a National Heritage and national River, the final authority for looking after the river will rest with the Union Government and state governments will be prevented from exploiting it according to their whims and fancies.

• Alternative outlets for the sewer water discharge should be found out on priority basis and no such water should be discharged into Yamuna River.

• Salvaging River Yamuna is a national duty and it should be kept above party-politics. It is the sacred duty of all of us to preserve this river as a sacred legacy for the posterity.    

 Your comments and valuable suggestions would turn clean River Yamuna into a public movement.