Yamuna board said ammonia problem occurs ‘every year’, no ‘convergent’ solutions by states

A raging war has ensued between political parties in the course of Delhi election campaign with former Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party’s Arvind Kejriwal accusing BJP-ruled Haryana of “water terrorism” and deliberately contaminating the Yamuna.

In the December 2023 UYRB meeting, however, “no converging suggestions” were made by board members representing state governments in Delhi, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh,  Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, and Uttarakhand, and the issue was placed for discussion in a later meeting, RTI documents show.

Then, at a February 2024 meeting of the Upper Yamuna River Committee (UYRC), chaired by then Union Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, Delhi Chief Minister Atishi – who was Water Minister at the time – raised concerns over ammonia pollution in the Yamuna. She pointed to untreated sewage from Panipat (DD-2) and leakages from drains DD-6 to DD-8, and said the resulting contamination had led to a water crisis in Delhi due to reduced supply.

The committee acknowledged the issue, noting that the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) and the National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) were taking “necessary actions related to abatement of ammonia pollution”.

Responding to Kejriwal’s attack, Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini hit back, demanding an apology and calling the allegation an insult to the state. “Kejriwal has insulted the land where he was born… The people of Haryana consider Yamuna a holy river and worship it. Why would they mix poison in its water?” he said.

Ammonia spikes are a recurring problem in Delhi. They become a cause of worry as water treatment plants in the Capital cannot treat water with ammonia content of over 1 ppm, resulting in supply disruptions. Over the past week, the peak concentration of ammoniacal nitrogen (a measure of nitrogenous organic matter as ammonia) in the Wazirabad pond, where water comes from Haryana and is sent to the water treatment plant, was 7 ppm.

The problem is not new. The Yamuna is driest between November and February when there is hardly any rain upstream. With fresh water falling to its lowest during winter months, the concentration of pollutants increases.

In the December 2023 meeting, UYRB, under the Jal Shakti ministry, noted that the situation regarding pollution entering river Yamuna from Panipat and Sonipat was being monitored by CPCB.

“Chairman, UYRB requested all the Members to give suggestions regarding the way forward in respect of actions to be taken by UYRB in this regard. No converging suggestions were made by Members. After deliberation, it was decided that CPCB may examine the issue and give their views on the way forward in respect of action to be taken,” as per the minutes of the meeting.

A February 2024 report of the Lok Sabha’s Standing Committee on Water Resources found that out of 33 locations on river Yamuna, the water quality at 23 locations, 6 out of 7 in Delhi, and 6 out of 10 in Haryana, was non-compliant with pollution standards between January 2021 and May 2023.

“The Committee learn from the deposition of the representative of the NMCG that the river Yamuna has been categorised into three parts viz., the part from Yamunotri to Hathnikund Barrage may be considered as unpolluted stretch, the part from Hathnikund Barrage to Palla is moderately polluted, however, the part from Palla to Okhla, basically the Delhi stretch is severely polluted,” the report said.

The culprit is runoff from farmland, direct discharge of effluents from industries where ammonia is used and untreated sewage are all major sources of ammonia pollution. Dye units, distilleries and other factories concentrated in Panipat and Sonipat in Haryana and illegal units in Delhi, as well as untreated sewage from colonies in Delhi are behind the pollution.

During a June 2024 meeting of the board, Delhi appealed to the Haryana government on “humanitarian grounds” for an additional 150 cusecs of water per day until the monsoon, citing a severe shortage triggered by heat waves.

Haryana, however, ruled out releasing additional water, pointing to excessive demand across its rural and urban areas. In its submission, Haryana attributed Delhi’s water scarcity to its “unwillingness to improve its distribution system” and “mismanagement of water resources”, documents show.