Drain water contamination endangering aquatic life: CPCB to monitor Yamuna with Delhi, Haryana every quarter

The decision comes amid concerns over the alleged deaths of thousands of fish in the river at Burari, reportedly due to chemical effluents released from factories.

The 22-km stretch of the Yamuna from Palla, where the river enters Delhi, to Asgarpur, where it exits, contributes over 80% of the pollution load in the Capital and remains one of its most degraded portions.

The CPCB, in a report in February this year, had said that there are two relevant monitoring locations in the affected area of Burari – Palla and Wazirabad. It had added that the water quality at Wazirabad does not meet the criteria for outdoor bathing. The report also underlined that the poor quality of water outfalls into the Yamuna from drain 8.

According to the minutes of a meeting held on October 13 – attended by NMCG, HSPCB and DPCC officials – the water quality data submitted by the three agencies “showed variations”. Following this, the decision was taken to monitor the river jointly every quarter.

At the meeting, HSPCB officials maintained that drain 8 usually carries clean water, while treated effluent from Kundli CETP (common effluent treatment plant) is discharged through a separate channel into drain 6. While mixing of effluents from these two drains occurs rarely, occasional overflow from the drain 6 stretch may reach drain 8, they added.

The officials further said that the Haryana government is laying a dedicated pipeline to eliminate overflows from drain 6 to drain 8. The two drains overlap along a section of drain 8, which originates in Haryana, and any overflow from drain 6 can carry effluents into it.

Haryana shall provide the timeline for completion of the work of covering drain 6, the officials told the gathering, adding that the work will be completed on an “urgent basis”.

Haryana will also begin including water quality monitoring data of the diversion drain in its monthly progress reports to the NMCG, the minutes of the meeting noted.

The meeting decided to conduct quarterly joint monitoring at three locations – the confluence of drain 8 with the Yamuna, and points along the river before and after the confluence. The exact sampling locations will be finalised in consultation with the CPCB.

While hearing a suo motu case, the NGT bench led by Chairperson Justice Prakash Shrivastava and Expert Member Dr A Senthil Vel had on September 17 rejected NMCG’s claim that the River Rejuvenation Committee under NGT was not responsible for pollution in the Burari stretch of Yamuna.

The bench had noted that under the River Ganga (Rejuvenation, Protection and Management) Authorities Order, 2016, NMCG cannot “be absolved of its responsibility”.

The order further said that authorities in Haryana and Delhi were “shifting the responsibility on each other,” and directed the Member Secretary of the CPCB to convene a joint meeting of officials from both states, fix responsibility, and formulate a programme to prevent future incidents. The matter will be heard next on December 1.

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