Delhi Gears Up To Save The Yamuna, But Is It Too Late?

NEW DELHI: June 5 is World Environment Day, and the day saw the residents of Delhi come together to carry out a ‘plastic free Yamuna’ cleanliness drive.

The World Environment theme for 2018 is ‘Beat Plastic Pollution’- aims is to direct ongoing initiatives to work for lesser and sustainable use of plastic. The official website explains, ‘The theme invites us all to consider how we can make changes in our everyday lives to reduce the heavy burden of plastic pollution on our natural places, our wildlife and our own health.’

India is chosen as the host country this year.

According to a study, Delhi generates the most plastic waste (689.52 tons) among all cities in the country. Data collected over a 10- year by Central Water Commission through its 371 monitoring stations across the country shows that Yamuna has the highest level of biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) concentration when it passes through Delhi. Its 20 km stretch in the capital also houses the highest industrial pollutants.

Along with the government, various NGOs, individuals are working on a slew of initiatives across Delhi towards reviving the dying river.

On Tuesday, on World Environment Day, a cleanliness drive- ‘Plastic Free Yamuna’- along the Yamuna bank was organized by Greenpeace India, Haiyya and Say Hello to Green Foundation. As per the organizers, around 70 people came together at the Yamuna Bank and spent around 3 hours collecting nearly 300 kg of waste.

Alok Ranjan, one of the organizers of the drive, told The Citizen, “This is not a one day event. We aim to hold multiple such drives over the next 2-3 years. This year the theme worked for our cause, but we aim to clean the Yamuna, especially the area in Delhi.”

“With Yamuna, the problem is both with quality and quantity of water. Presently, there is very less water in Yamuna and its quality, too, is worsening every day. While there have been many cleaning drives but its ground impact is not visible. It is due to several reasons. Primarily, due to high influx of pollutants as sewage from industries and household. Not just this, the current framework of entire clean Yamuna drive is not working as of now.”, says Rashmi Verma, Senior Research Associate, Centre for Science and Environment.

Giving further insight on the matter, Manoj Mishra, working with Yamuna Jiye Abhiyan said, “Technically, there is no Yamuna in Delhi. The channel is Yamuna’s; however, the water is diverted 200km upstream from Delhi. The channel now has sewage and industrial waste. Cleaning drives are only ornamental. They can’t change the situation, only raise awareness.”

Mishra also tagged the current situation of the river as extreme.

The fight to save Yamuna is a long one and activists and organisations will continue to work towards the cause, however it is necessary for drastic changes in the management of waste disposal in Delhi-NCR to save the Yamuna.

The question remains, whether it is too late for Yamuna, and are cleanliness drives going to be enough to save the heavily polluted river?