Floating pontoons to block waste from entering Yamuna

The barriers are being deployed alongside “trash skimmers” – boats equipped with machinery to remove floating waste, plastic, and water hyacinth.

New Delhi:

Delhi water minister Parvesh Verma said the measures are part of a comprehensive action plan to clean the Yamuna. (HT archive)

The Delhi government has decided to expand its project to install “floating pontoon barriers” at drain outfalls along the Yamuna, officials aware of the matter said on Thursday, adding that the plan will now cover 12 major drains instead of the three initially planned.

Floating pontoons are being installed on all 12 major drains, including Sen Nursing Home drain, Nallah No. 14, Civil Military drain, Magazine drain, Sweeper Colony Khyber Pass, Sunehri Pul and Kushak drain, Taimoor Nagar drain, Tughlaqabad drain, Najafgarh drain, Barapullah drain, and the Shahdara outfall drain, a senior government official aware of the plan said.

The barriers are being deployed alongside “trash skimmers” – boats equipped with machinery to remove floating waste, plastic, and water hyacinth.

“Some sites like Taimoor Nagar drain and Barapullah face massive garbage problems. Last year alone, 39 tonnes of garbage was lifted from Taimoor Nagar drain by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi,” an official said, adding that the agency will periodically clean these barriers.

Last year, the Delhi government’s irrigation and flood control department took over all 22 drains with direct outfall into the Yamuna. Four trash skimmers have been deployed in the Yamuna to collect waste that enters the river despite the drain outfall barriers, with two additional skimmers deployed in Najafgarh and Ghazipur drains.

Delhi water minister Parvesh Verma said the measures are part of a comprehensive action plan to clean the Yamuna.

“Every waste component entering Yamuna is being tackled. We are focusing on using advanced machinery to remove silt from drains, increasing treatment capacity of STPs, and upgrading infrastructure to handle industrial and residential waste. Thousands of tonnes of waste has been removed from the river over the last year. Our biggest commitment is to completely clean and restore the Yamuna.”

Officials said floating waste segregators will also be installed upstream of Palla, where Yamuna enters Delhi, to tackle floating waste and hyacinth entering from Haryana. An agency will maintain the floating structure and ensure disposal of collected materials in coordination with MCD.

Bhim Singh Rawat, a Yamuna activist, and member of the South Asia Network on Dams, Rivers and People (SANDRP) said: “Delhi stretch also sees trash barriers during the festive period. The problem is that collected trash is dumped on the banks. We should also hold an audit of what has been achieved from these barriers over the last 2-3 years. A second issue is deployment of unskilled labour in manual cleaning of these barriers,” he added.