Delhi Jal Board flags neighbour’s pollution contribution in Yamuna

The communique highlighted a need to tackle 187mgd of polluted wastewater from Haryana emptying into the Najafgarh drain, 105mgd from the Badshahpur drain and Kundli industrial area, 105mgd of untreated industrial waste entering the Shahdara drain from Uttar Pradesh

New Delhi

The Yamuna is filled with toxic foam in winter. (Sunil Ghosh/HT Photo)

The Delhi Jal Board (DJB) has written to neighbouring states flagging sewage and industrial waste being carried to the Yamuna through their drain networks, and urged them to take corrective measures, such as ramping up sewage treatment, at the point of origin of the waste.

The communique highlighted a need to tackle 187 million gallons a day (mgd) of polluted wastewater from Haryana emptying into the Najafgarh drain, 105mgd from the Badshahpur drain and Kundli industrial area, 105mgd of untreated industrial waste entering the Shahdara drain from Uttar Pradesh, causing heavy biological oxygen demand (BOD) load in the Hindon Cut Canal.

“...it is a fact that wastewater is being discharged from Haryana. Out of the 462mgd discharge from Najafgarh, 187mgd discharge comes from Haryana drains. Drain number L-1 from Badshahpur and drain number 6 from Kundli Industrial Area carry about 105 mgd untreated discharge. Some drains originating from the Gurugram area, L-1, L-2 and L-3, fall into the Najafgarh drain. Manguneshpur and Bhupania drains originating from the Bahadurgarh and Bhupania areas also fall into the Najafgarh drain. Kundli industrial areas are also releasing effluents in Supplementary drain through drain number 6,” the communication dated November 10, a copy of which was accessed by HT, read.

Cleaning of the Yamuna has been one of the priority projects for the new Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in Delhi. It has set a target of 2027 to significantly improve the water quality of the river. The 22km stretch of Yamuna in Delhi, from Wazirabad Barrage to Okhla Barrage, is less than 2% of the river’s total length, but accounts for nearly 76% of the total pollution in the river, a Yamuna monitoring committee report noted.

DJB officials said that wastewater contribution from NCR towns will also need to be tackled to achieve better water quality in the river.

Flagging Uttar Pradesh’s contribution, the DJB said 105mgd of untreated industrial waste and sewage was being dumped into the Shahdara drain. “The Hindon Cut-canal flowing downstream of the Okhla Barrage is contributing significantly to the BOD load of the Yamuna in Delhi,” DJB said.

DJB officials said that there are 22 major drains that empty into the river between Okhla and Wazirabad. “Many of these larger drains like Najafgarh, Shahdara, Supplementary drain among others also receive large contributions from NCR districts. Delhi is increasing its treatment capacity but it will not yield results if the additional load from these sub drains is not tapped,” an official said.

In the communication dated November 10, DJB said it was making every effort to ensure no untreated sewage is discharged into the river. “Delhi’s sewage treatment capacity has been increased from 694mgd to 814mgd. Bidding has been initiated to increase STP treatment capacity to approximately 1060mgd by December 2027. In the past year, the BOD:10 and DO:10 upgradation of 10 STPs has been completed, bringing the number of STPs up to 37 as per the latest standards. The number of STPs has increased to 27,” the water utility said.

A UP government official said that action plan for increasing treatment capacity has been submitted in an affidavit filed before the National Green Tribunal (NGT) on September 10 which stated that the sewage treatment plant capacity will witness significant increase in the basin by 2027. There is a gap of 285.43 MLD in the installed and utilised capacity of the 20 STPs in seven districts, including Meerut, Muzaffarnagar, Shamli, Ghaziabad, Baghpat, Saharanpur, and Gautam Budh Nagar, for which STPs are proposed and work is on for laying sewer lines and household connections.

Specifically, Ghaziabad has sewage generation of 480 MLD but utilised STP capacity is only 381 MLD while a new 68MLD STP is under construction and likely to be operational by December 2025, the affidavit states.

There was no immediate response from Haryana on the matter.