‘Yamuna has turned into a drain...’: AAP's Swati Maliwal accuses own govt of making false promises to clean river

Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP) Rajya Sabha member Swati Maliwal on August 9 called for setting up sewage treatment plants in Delhi to help depollute the Yamuna. The AAP member also accused her party’s government in Delhi of only making false promises to clean the river. 

Raising the issue of pollution in the river during Zero Hour in the Upper House, the AAP MP said people of the National Capital are lucky that Yamuna passes through the city, but the tragedy is that due to “our failure” the river has turned into a drain. 

Maliwal said the Yamuna is worshipped since long, but today 22 drains empty in the river and 238 million gallon of untreated sewage is being dumped into it daily. 

Sections of the river have been plagued by the dumping of toxic chemicals and untreated sewage. The river is most polluted in areas surrounding Delhi. According to reports, only 2 percent of the river’s length flows through the capital, but Delhi contributes about 76 percent of the river’s total pollution, according to a government monitoring committee. 

A thick layer of toxic foam is a regular sight on the Yamuna and despite its toxicity many villagers downstream continue to use the water to drink.  

Cleaning of the river 

Last month, the Delhi government’s pollution control body planned to penalise chief engineers of sewage treatment plants that do not treat wastewater to prescribed standards, a major cause of pollution in the Yamuna. 

Biological oxygen demand (BOD) and total suspended solids (TSS) in treated wastewater should be less than 10 milligrams per litre. This is critical for cleaning the Delhi stretch of the Yamuna. 

The capital missed the December 2023 deadline to treat all the sewage generated to the prescribed standards. The Delhi Jal Board (DJB) received a six-month extension but failed to meet the goal, according to monthly progress reports on the Yamuna river’s rejuvenation sent to the Jal Shakti Ministry. 

In March, the Delhi government set a target to increase its sewage treatment capacity to 814 million gallons a day, but this too was not achieved. Now, the DJB aims to reach a sewage treatment capacity of 922 MGD by December 2024 and 964.5 MGD by March 2025, according to the latest monthly progress report submitted to the Jal Shakti Ministry. 

Any further delays could make it very difficult for the AAP-led government to fulfil its promise of cleaning the Yamuna to bathing standards by February 2025.