Delhi Minister Parvesh Sahib Singh Verma takes a boat ride during inspection of the cleanliness efforts at Yamuna ghats, in Delhi. File photo
| Photo Credit: The Hindu

The Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), a Delhi-based research and advocacy group, released a comprehensive report on Thursday that calls for immediate and systemic reforms to revive the heavily polluted Yamuna river.

The report titled ‘Yamuna: The Agenda for Cleaning the River’ emphasises the need to collect and treat all faecal sludge from non-sewered areas. It recommends reworking strategies for the Najafgarh and Shahdara drains, which contribute a staggering 84% of the pollution load into the river.

Highlighting inefficiencies in current sewage treatment practices, the CSE criticises the discharge of treated water into drains that are already polluted with untreated waste, rendering the treatment process ineffective. “Each sewage treatment plant (STP) must plan not just how it will treat, but also how it will discharge treated effluents,” the report notes. 

It also calls for an increase in river flow to improve the river’s ability to assimilate waste. This could involve reducing water intake, enhancing storage, and directly discharging clean, treated water into the river.

The report raises concerns about unchecked industrial pollution, particularly from units operating in unauthorised areas beyond regulatory oversight.

CSE Director General Sunita Narain stated that despite years of investment and legal pressure, the river shows no sign of improvement.

“The agenda for cleaning the river is critical as a ‘dead Yamuna’ is not just a matter of shame, it also adds to the burden of providing clean water to Delhi as well as to the cities downstream,” Ms. Narain said.

“We must realise that cleaning the Yamuna will require much more than money. It will need a reworked plan which will guide us towards thinking and acting differently,” she added.

Faecal coliform levels, an indicator of sewage contamination, remain alarmingly high, said the report, which likens the river to a “sewage canal.”