Delhi flags Yamuna fish deaths to Haryana, calls for curbing effluent dumping

Delhi Jal Board urges Haryana to address untreated effluents causing fish deaths in Najafgarh drain, part of pollution control efforts for Sahibi river.

New Delhi: The Delhi Jal Board (DJB), taking note of mass fish mortality in the Najafgarh drain near the Dhansa regulator, wrote to the Haryana government, asking them to trace the origin of untreated effluents being discharged into the drain and take corrective action.

Dead fish spotted over the past week at Rawta village (HT Photo)

DJB has said that the departments concerned in Haryana are actively planning to treat untreated discharge entering the river.

“Delhi government had proactively taken up this issue about curbing pollution entering Sahibi river, with Haryana government’s departments. They are actively planning to treat untreated discharge entering the river. Again, it has been brought to their notice today,” the DJB said.

A senior DJB official, who did not wish to be named, said that “Mission Sahibi” was a key component for the Yamuna rejuvenation and Haryana is a part of the project.

“As part of the project, the sewage treatment capacity in Gurugram will be expanded by 90 million litres per day (mld) while a 227mld plant will be set up in Faridabad for which a deadline of March 2028 has been fixed. Fifty-five subdrains have been identified for in-situ treatment as well,” the official said.

Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA) is set to use drone surveys to identify illegal pathways and sewage discharge points along the 26km Badshahpur drain (Leg-3), from Ghata to Sector 99 via Vatika Chowk, as part of a plan to curb pollution. The Badhsahpur drain converges into the Najafgarh drain.

HT reported on Wednesday that the Najafgarh drain, Delhi’s most polluted stormwater drain that outflows into the Yamuna, has turned a graveyard for aquatic life, with thousands of dead fish seen floating along the drain near southwest Delhi’s Rawta village.

Diwan Singh, a water expert and Yamuna activist, said that sewage and effluent treatment plants need to be set up in Gurugram to tackle the massive pollution load from industries upstream. “Agricultural run-off, industries releasing heavy metal pollutants and sewage are making a poisonous cocktail. Sahibi should be treated like a river system and an interstate plan, involving Rajasthan, Haryana and Delhi, is needed to revive it,” he said.