Eulogy for the Yamuna
- The Youth's Lens
- Nov 29, 2018
- 2 min read
The Yamuna River has played an instrumental role in the development of New Delhi, throughout the capital’s illustrious history. However, due to the constant mistreatment, misusage and consistent negligence that the river has been subjected to over the last couple of decades, one may deem it only fitting to call the time of death. After all, the level of pollution in the river is consistently above safe levels for human consumption, a factoid mentioned in a Yale report.
One of the largest festering wounds that claimed the life of this beloved river, may have to be the Najafgarh Nulluh, pictured above, which used to be known as the River Sahibi. This drain empties out 180 million litres of untreated sewage water into the river, everyday. Around 17,288 factories pour out their effluents into this single drain, that begins at the Kakrola Village, whilst 70 other drains act as its tributaries. At the point of the confluence between the channel with the river, the water turns black. Black akin to vantablack. It’s a tragedy, especially considering that around 80-85% of the water consumed by Delhites is from that very river we continually abuse, regardless of the religious importance it may hold in the collective conscious. Additionally, this strains underground water tables, which have become dangerously low, with water falling 20-30 metres in certain areas.
Apart from the obvious effects that include loss of wildlife and important habitat, other terrible impacts currently riddle the local area and the National Capital Region due to our inability to keep the river in proper health . This includes a great deal of economic loss, as Delhi spends crores of rupees to purify the water for normal usage, an expense that could be cut down on and be directed elsewhere, for other important causes like our lacklustre road safety. Other less evident economic losses manifest as lost tourism, whether it be domestic or international.
Fortunately, times are looking up. The government has begun taken steps to better the state of the river, with the Delhi government hiring an Israeli Firm, in early 2017, to help in restoring the certain sections of the river. Yet certain affiliates to the AAP, the current party in power, themselves have said that their seems to be a ‘lack of will’ to clean-up the river, especially when the government is constantly failing to improve air quality, another important factor for the maintenance of the river, as the increased Nitrogen compounds in the air are partly to blame for algal blooms, which stop other aquatic life from flourishing, and can also contribute to water bodies becoming more acidic.
Additionally, the government has been able to revive water bodies within the capital in the past, thus confirming the laziness of the ruling party. An instance of this happens to be the Neela Huas and Sanjay Van Park, which are neighbouring regions with 5 different lakes that were brought back from the grave in time to beautify the city for the 2010 Commonwealth Games.
Do we really need to wait for another such event before we finally decide to get our act together?
Written by Mihir Sardana
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Informative article. Hope people whether in government or any other field understand the relevance of cleaning up our environment .