AAP claims to clear toxic Yamuna foam soon, BJP hits out

Delhi Jal Board begins sprinkling defoamers in Yamuna river ahead of Chhath Puja to remove toxic white foam, as BJP alleges chemical spraying.

The Delhi Jal Board (DJB) on Thursday began sprinkling defoamers in the Yamuna river at Okhla barrage to remove the toxic white foam floating on the water’s surface — an issue that comes up every year — ahead of the Chhath Puja festival.

The Delhi Jal Board (DJB) on Thursday began sprinkling defoamers in the Yamuna river at Kalindi Kunj Ghat in New Delhi. (Sunil Ghosh/HT Photo)

Read here: Ahead of Chhath Puja in Delhi, Yamuna foam a political flashpoint

The festival will be celebrated from Friday (November 17) till November 20, during which devotees will offer prayers in knee-deep water. Officials said that the sprinking work will also continue till November 20 for which the agency has deployed ten boats. DJB will also monitor water parameters during this period, the officials said.

Meanwhile, the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) alleged that the “spraying of chemicals” is being carried out to “suppress the poisonous foam”.

Delhi ministers and mayor Shelly Oberoi also took stock of Chhath preparations at some of the 1,000 ghats readied for the festival. Water minister Atishi said that DJB is sprinkling food grade chemicals and enzymes to tackle the foam.

“The sprinkling to remove the froth has been started using 10 boats and dedicated teams. In the next two days, the foam will completely vanish,” she said.

The Delhi government has blamed the neighbouring Uttar Pradesh for releasing polluted water through the Okhla irrigation barrage into Kalindi Kunj. The presence of phosphates and surfactants in untreated sewage is a major reason behind frothing in the river, according to experts.

To be sure, untreated sewage flows into the Yamuna from UP, Haryana and Delhi via 23 different drains, including the major outfalls of Najafgarh and Shahdara drain. A defoamer or an anti-foaming agent is a chemical additive that reduces foam formation in industrial process liquids. However, experts said that the solution is only temporary.

Atishi said: “At the time of Chhath, we are making these preparations so that people of Delhi do not face any problems but we also request the UP irrigation department not to send polluted water to Delhi.”

DJB vice-chairman and MLA from Malviya Nagar, Somnath Bharti, took part in the sprinkling work at Kalindi Kunj. “More than 1,000 Chhath ghats have been built in Delhi so that devotees can offer Arghya,” he said.

Bharti said that the foam is also formed as the water falls from a greater height from the barrage. “The control of Kalindi Kunj Barrage is with the BJP-ruled Uttar Pradesh government and they probably deliberately open only the gates of the barrage which are on the Delhi side,” Bharti alleged.

However, BJP MP Manoj Tiwari said that the Delhi government failed to clean the river despite getting adequate funds. “Will Yamuna water not be contaminated by this chemical? Will it not harm animals and devotees? The government does not care about Yamuna the whole year but when Chhath Puja comes, they spray chemicals to hide their failure. If this chemical is not harmful then why is it not sprayed throughout the year? Even after giving lakhs of crores of rupees by the Central Government for cleaning Yamuna, the condition of Yamuna is still bad...,” he added. The AAP’s Atishi termed the accusations as “baseless”.

It was not known what chemical was being used in the anti-foaming agent.

Every year, as the festival arrives, so do the pictures of devotees offering prayers while standing in waist-deep in the frothing water near Kalindi Kunj, indicating the lack of dissolved oxygen, and high surfactant pollutant load in the river stretch along the Okhla barrage..

A senior DJB official said the froth bubbles are caused due to soap-like surfactant molecules and when the water falls from a height in the Okhla barrage, it leads to churning of the polluted water as well as increased frothing. “There are biological and chemicals causes behind the presence of surfactant molecules. It can be due to detergents and surfactants in untreated domestic sewage, pollutants from industries as well as materials released by decomposition of dying water hyacinth weeds in the Okhla barrage,” the official said, requesting anonymity.

Read here: Chhath Puja: 200 police personnel, 20 divers to keep watch on Yamuna ghats

Diwan Singh, an environmental activist who led Yamuna Satyagrah for rejuvenating the river and other water bodies, said that the foam formation indicated that large amount of waste water untreated sewage and effluents from industries are coming into the river without any treatment.

“Out of 36 sewage treatment plants, 22 are working below parameters. Detergents and chemicals are being discharged into the river,” Singh said, adding that the defoaming agent will only serve as a temporary solution.