Editor Mr.Mayank Rawat ( Chief Editor Mr. Rohit Mishra )
New Delhi: In the wake of lifeline of Delhi—River Yamuna— turning it into a “dead stream” and posing significant environmental and health risks, former National Green Tribunal (NGT) chairperson Justice Swatanter Kumar along with other experts emphasised the need to tackle pollution, rather than resort to solutions like concretisation or running motorboats. They stressed that the problem lies in insufficient commitment to cleaning the river, despite the availability of resources.
Justice Kumar said that while the necessary funding exists, Delhi government’s lack of dedication has allowed River Yamuna to remain polluted. He referenced a landmark 2015 directive led by him, the Maili se Nirmal Yamuna Revitalisation Project, which aimed to clean the river by 2017. However, due to poor coordination, the river remains heavily polluted. “We have turned the lifeline of Delhi into an open sewer; there is a lack of environmental consciousness. There is no data on the Yamuna River regarding what it carries, whether it is sewage, industrial waste, or medical waste. It stinks. But it can be fixed,” said Justice Kumar at the Citizens Dialogue for the Rejuvenation of the River Yamuna conference, hosted by the citizen-led environmental group Green Circle of Delhi. He highlighted that the Centre had provided approximately Rs 2,000 crores to the Delhi government for river cleaning, but the funds had not been fully utilised. Justice Kumar also raised concerns about river encroachment and dredging. “Even if we want to dredge the river, an entire city would be required to do that,” he stated.
Corroborating Kumar, former Delhi University vice chancellor Deepak Pental said the river was slowly dying and advocated for more natural, ecological solutions, such as covering the floodplain with native plants, rather than opting for “fancy ideas” like concrete structures and motorboats. “When a river like the Yamuna flows through the city and there are a lot of people living on both sides, one should feel that everything is okay. With the Yamuna, you do not get that feeling, and vast stretches are highly polluted. Barring when it rains and the river swells for a few days, we do not have enough water to sustain the river,” Pental said.
Professor AK Gosain from IIT Delhi highlighted the issue of untreated sewage from unauthorised colonies, where establishing sewage systems is a challenge. He emphasised the need for local solutions and stated that if the 2015 NGT order had been properly implemented, Yamuna would have been much cleaner by now. “Intent is missing. There are also issues involving technology and transparency. We need to reassess the issue,” said Gosain.
Professor CR Babu, head of DU’s Centre for Environmental Management of Degraded Ecosystems (CEMDE), called for more natural solutions like constructed wetlands on the floodplains. He explained that native tree species could enhance groundwater recharge and regulate the river’s flow during floods, a natural solution that STPs alone cannot provide.
The conference was moderated by Suhas Borker, founder member of Green Circle, who reiterated the need to avoid concretisation in any future plans for the riverfront. “The focus should be on maintaining the ecological integrity of the river,” Borker said, emphasising the importance of long-term, sustainable solutions for the Yamuna’s rejuvenation.
Mayank Rawat
