Yamuna cleaning: Centre passes blame to Delhi Govt

New Delhi, June 1: The cleaning of Yamuna in the national capital has not beyond certain cosmetic measures despite ambitious plans, says a Parliamentary panel.

''Yamuna water at Delhi continues to be stinking and dirty and the waste is still dumped in to the river through drains,'' the Parliamentary Committee on Environment and Forests has said in its latest report.

The committee has noted with concern that the government has been taking only cosmetic measures like removal of slums from the bank and greening of banks in the name of cleaning of the river.

''Perhaps the more concrete solution is to prevent the drainage wastes from entering the river and to ensure increase in the flow of fresh water from entering the river,'' the report said.

However, the Environment and Forests Ministry has tried to pass on the blame to the Delhi Government.

The committee was told by the Ministry that the existing capacity for treatment of sewage treatment was far short of requirement, and for that the Delhi government has to submit a detailed project report, which it has failed to do so far.

The Ministry said last year it was not able to fully utilise the external aid mainly because of non-submission of project by the Delhi government.

According to its studies, the entire pollution takes place only in the stretch of the Yamuna river that passes through Delhi which is about 22 km. The quality of water of Yamuna river, when it enters Delhi, is far superior than when it leaves Delhi and by the time Yamuna enters into Agra canal.

Even though Delhi constitutes only two per cent of the catchment of the Yamuna basin, the area contributes about 80 per cent of the pollution load. There are 16 drains which discharge treated and untreated waste water/sewage of Delhi into the Yamuna.

The municipal sector is the main source of water pollution in terms of volume. Approximately 1,900 mld of waste water is discharged from the municipal sector and 320 mld from the industrial sector. The installed capacity for treatment is 1,270 mld. At the same time, the existing capacity for treatment is not up to the desired secondary treatment level. Thus, substantial quantity of untreated sewage and partially treated sewage is discharged into the Yamuna every day.

The committee was of the view that the Ministry should adopt a more proactive stance regarding solutions that the Yamuna Action Plan needs to provide.

The Ministry, in coordination with the neighbouring state governments of Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Delhi should plan a starategy for augmentation of water resources in the upper stretches of the Yamuna and for conserving water, both for domestic and irrigation purposes, the committee said.

UNI