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The pollution in the Yamuna has been a matter of great concern for some time now. Many a writ has been filed in the Supreme Court of India……and many a judgements passed. Conservationists, such as Mr. M. C. Mehta have looked for reasons for the decay of this river…but the answers that most have come up with… have not really helped. Something is amiss, is it the improper implementation of the orders, whatever the reason be, the river continues to get polluted even more.
So what is wrong? The question worries any intelligent & enquiring mind. The answers are not simple and sometimes not easy to accept. Surely, the Yamuna was not supposed to be like this after the implementation of the Yamuna Action Plan.
Delhi has gained from all those millions of rupees - 956 community toilets, 180 mobile toilet units, 19 sewer cleaning machines, and one electric crematorium( Till 2002 ). These were infrastructure systems originally meant to help clean the river but they have only made matters worse by adding to the wastewater going into the river and even polluting the groundwater. Is this how the funds should be used/earmarked? Surely providing amenities for Delhi is the work of the corporation and the local government. YAP Funds should never have been used/earmarked for such infrastructure. It is not difficult to imagine if every city/town along the Yamuna was to demand funds or use YAP to clean up its sewers, (and build them) buy sewer cleaning machines, construct community toilets & mobile toilets and crematoriums. There would have to be a budget provision of lakhs of Billions of Rupees. Or maybe the Yamuna action Plan, never really got off for these very reasons. Most major Cities are on the banks of rivers, lakes, seas. These water bodies have to be protected from pollutions of all kinds from the cities. Must there be a plan similar to the Yamuna Action plan for all these cities. Obviously that is not possible, nor is it required. All Governments tax their citizens in various ways such as House Tax, Water Tax, which are primarily to provide civic amenities such as sewers, clean drinking water, toilets for those who don’t have them. Then there are many other taxes that are paid to governments for providing other amenities. But then where and how should the money of projects such as The Yamuna Action Plan be used? There may be numerous ways and most of them may be right. It’s the Priority that makes all the Difference. But surely not to satisfy the civic needs of the city, as this is the job of other bodies set up for the purpose. Building Sewers or public toilets in no way cleanses the Yamuna. If any thing it pollutes the river. Though these are essential, the Spirit of the YAP could never have intended this. Most important would have been to ensure that not a single drain empty into the Yamuna without the water being treated. After spending most of the YAP money on building sewers, purchasing sewer cleaning machines, building public toilets etc. to say that there isn’t sufficient money to build water treatment plants for cleansing sewage water, is like putting the horse before the Cart. Officials say that only 50% of the sewer water is being treated before being let into the river. There is a dearth of funds which inhibits increasing of capacity of these plants. To add insult to injury, the effluent component of the treated sewer water comes back to the river as there is no proper system to dispose this. Are we not making a big mockery of this major problem? History is proof that civilizations have developed around water bodies and have perished with them. If we think it's going to be different for us...we are of course living in a fool’s paradise. In India, the right to information is not a right enjoyed by the public. There is very little that comes out as to what has happened to public money. Projects are sanctioned, seldom completed on time, there are large cost escalations and no one is penalized .Its Public Money – who cares? Money has come for many projects from other countries. For the Yamuna Action plan too funds have been received from countries such as Japan.
This agreement, between India and Japan, clearly states that Sewage treatment capacity has to be raised by building new and expanding capacity of old sewage treatment plants. Laying Sewers before expanding the capacities of these treatment plants clearly goes against the very spirit of the YAMUNA ACTION PLAN as this would pollute the Yamuna since the sewage has no where to empty but into the Yamuna. So much of money spent – 1333 million yen from Japan alone – What has it got us…that’s the Question...
After so much money having gone into the Yamuna Action Plan to see such sewers emptying into the Yamuna does send adrenaline racing to the blood stream. Polythene scattered every where. In Uttar Pradesh, Jal Nigam a government body has been given the responsibility of managing sewage water treatment plants. Here are a few pictures.
The main Sewage water treatment plant at Agra Many notices have been put up around the city telling people how the city and the Yamuna is important and what must be done to preserve the Yamuna. As far as Jal Nigam is concerned, their job is done – notices have been put up and surely Yamuna can take care of itself.
This notice
roughly translates as under:- YAMUNA ACTION
PLAN
J.B.I.C. SUPPORTED AND AIDED BY THE JAPANESE
GOVERNMENT WE HAVE TO CLEAN UP THE YAMUNA, WE
MUST ALL JOIN HANDS TO
CLEANSE THE YAMUNA OF POLLUTANTS AND IN ORDER TO PROTECT THE
ENVIRONMENT, YOUR HELP IS ESSENTIAL. IT IS HOPED THAT YOU WILL
OBSERVE THE FOLLOWING SAFEGUARDS; Keep the river clean and
pure. Do not use soap while bathing or washing
clothes in the river. Dead bodies should be cremated only in the
crematorium. For defecation purposes, use only
toilets/Sulabh toilets Do not throw dead animals into the
river. Keep cattle in dairy farms only and do not
allow animals to go into the river. Throw garbage only in garbage
bins. Do not throw hospital / nursing homes’ waste
carelessly. Destroy by burning. Discharge industrial wastes only after
removal of effluents. YAMUNA POLLUTION CONTROL UNIT, UTTAR PRADESH
JAL NIGAM,
The approximate
translation of this notice is as under:- MEANS FOR A
POLLUTION FREE LIFE YAMUNA ACTION PLAN,
AIDED BY THE GOVERNMENT OF
DON’T’S
DO’S Do not urinate
or defecate near the river.
(Not readable)
Do not use soap
while bathing in the river
Bathe without soap in the river Do not immerse
dead bodies in the river
Cremate dead bodies only in the
crematorium Do not allow
animals, cattle etc to enter the river freely
Keep cattle only in dairy farms Do not litter
household wastes
Throw household waste only in waste
bins. Do not throw
polythene bags etc., in drains
Throw polythene bags only in waste
bins Do not dirty
the ghats (bathing areas at the river banks)
Keep the ghats clean Do not dirty
the city
A clean city will make us
healthy Do not immerse
half-burnt bodies in the river THE SLOGAN OF
THE YAMUNA POLLUTION CONTROL UNIT – MAY THE YAMUNA FLOW
PURE PROGRAM MANAGER, YAMUNA POLLUTION CONTROL
UNIT, UTTAR PRADESH JAL NIGAM, Do not urinate
or defecate near the river – Do not throw polythene bags etc., in
drains - so reads the notice – of course it says
nothing about emptying untreated sewage into the river….is there a
problem with that?…Jal Nigam doesn’t seem to think
so.
The Sewage pumping Station is shown below Do not use Soap while Bathing or washing
clothes in the river… the notice reads. “So let it be
said, and so let it be done” but that’s not the way of the world
today. Most things have to be monitored and ensured that all rules
are followed.
And
right under the There’s soap and bleach
too. Another DON’T – Do not allow animals and Cattle to enter the river freely.
For implementation of these rules all that
is required is a will.. to clean the Yamuna - a commitment.
Unfortunately both are missing. There is no accountability. The very
people entrusted to look after the The Yamuna
pollution control unit, U.P. Jal Nigam, has put up notices. Will
that cleanse the Yamuna? Surely more needs to be
done. No amount of
funding or complex planning will help unless the basic desire is
there among people, politicians and officials concerned to really see a clean
river again. "Never doubt
that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the
world; indeed, it is the only thing that ever has." Change, that
elusive thing many of us chase all our lives, is perhaps hardest to
achieve, and nowhere is this more glaring than in the human
endeavour to change and adopt an eco-friendly
lifestyle. We must try
and contribute to this noble mission of cleaning not only the Yamuna
but every river, in
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