River Pollution in the Ganga and Yamuna Rivers

ALOK K. SHRIVASTAVA

Every now and then, we read, view, and hear about pollution in two of India’s most important rivers — the Ganga and the Yamuna. The latter stole the limelight during the recently concluded Maha Kumbh. Both rivers hold religious significance apart from their supposed purifying powers. However, both are suffering from acute pollution due to a variety of reasons: disposal of human sewage, animal waste, and industrial effluents. Consequently, their waters have become unfit for drinking and even for bathing. This leads to health challenges such as dysentery, cholera, and hepatitis.

While the Ganga originates from the Gangotri Glacier at a height of 4,100 metres, the Yamuna begins at the Yamunotri Glacier and flows through seven states.

A Look at Religiosity

Both the Ganga and Yamuna are considered sacred in Hinduism due to their purifying powers. Despite growing pollution, Ganga jal is still used in homes and temples for puja and purification rituals. Devotees may not be aware that the water is no longer pure. Ganga, long believed to possess self-purifying properties, is showing signs of distress.

Has the surge in pollution overtaken its natural purification abilities?

The ongoing pollution in the Ganga poses a serious threat to human health and the environment. After all, it flows through 11 states and supports over 500 million people. Numerous initiatives in the past have failed to yield the desired results.

Yamuna: A River in Peril

A mere 22-km stretch of the Yamuna through Delhi (from Wazirabad to Okhla) contributes 75% of the river's total pollution. Delhi receives 70% of its water supply from the Yamuna, yet dumps 58% of its waste into it — earning the river the dubious distinction of being called a “black river.”

Municipal, animal, and industrial waste, along with items discarded by motorists and pedestrians, are dumped indiscriminately. Fertilizer runoff has reduced oxygen levels, and faecal coliform bacteria are rampant. As a result, Yamuna water is unfit even for animal bathing — let alone human consumption. It is only usable for industrial cooling.

Yamuna makes headlines mostly around elections or sacred observances like Chhath Puja, only to fade into oblivion afterward.

Many Lieutenant Governors and Chief Ministers have seen the awful state of the Yamuna and made grand promises. But nothing has changed since 1978, from when I have been observing the river's deterioration. Successive governments have promised the moon, but delivery has been negligible. The current administration began with a Yamuna aarti.

Will Something Substantial Be Done in View of the Following?

• 90% of domestic wastewater flows into the river
• High phosphate content forms thick layers of froth
• Heavy pollutants from two major drains — Shahdara &Najafgarh
• Large amounts of untreated sewage
• No regulation on idol immersion and puja accessories
• High concentrations of chromium and iron
• Dumping of even recyclable products
• Rampant plastic pollution — Delhi generates 2,51,674 tonnes annually, of which 50% is single-use plastic

Action for Clean Yamuna

Past Initiatives Include:

1. Yamuna Action Plans I, II & III (1993–2003, 2004–2011, and 2018 onwards)
2. Yamuna Purification Drive (2018)
3. Community Initiatives

What More Can Be Done?

• Construct new toilets and cremation grounds
• Launch educational programmes
• Impose strict penalties on industries and hospitals that dump waste
• Upgrade sewage treatment plants
• Improve waste management systems
• Promote recycling
• Create parks that use treated wastewater

Ganga Action Plan (GAP)

Announced by then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in 1985 with an estimated cost of ?863 crores, GAP was formally launched in 1986 across 25 towns — 6 in U.P., 4 in Bihar, and 15 in West Bengal. Its objectives were to improve water quality, prevent pollution, and rejuvenate the river.

Key components included:

• Sewage treatment
• Riverfront development
• Surface cleaning
• Afforestation
• Biodiversity conservation
• Public awareness

Phase II (1993) covered 59 towns with an expenditure of ?5,053 crores. Its scope included major tributaries such as the Yamuna, Gomti, and Damodar.

The National Ganga River Basin Authority (NGRBA) was set up on February 20, 2009, with a $1 billion assistance from the World Bank. Phase III, under the National River Conservation Plan, included other major rivers.

Namami Gange Programme

Launched in 2014 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, this mega initiative had an estimated cost of ?2,037 crores. By July 2016, ?2,958 crores had already been spent. A further outlay of ?20,000 crores was approved for the next five years. Many industrial units along the river were shut, and new sewage and effluent treatment plants were planned.

Main components:

• Sewage infrastructure
• Riverfront development
• Surface cleaning
• Biodiversity and afforestation
• Public awareness
• Industrial effluent monitoring
• Establishment of “Ganga Grams”

The National Ganga Mission-II, effective until 2026, has an earmarked outlay of ?22,500 crores.

To Sum Up

From the above analysis, it is clear that money is not the issue — it never was. What is lacking is political will and bureaucratic accountability.

Despite several schemes and Supreme Court directions on river conservation, the results are there for all to see. Dumping has become a national pastime. Sewage and effluent treatment plants exist on paper but are neither maintained nor monitored. Fines go uncollected or are levied casually. Riverbanks are being encroached upon rampantly. And middle- and high-income families are unknowingly consuming vegetables grown along these polluted riverbanks — saturated with iron, phosphate, and chromium.

GOD SAVE US.