| The Yamuna river sacred to the agony |
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| Sunday, 20 April 2008 | |
 Industrial pollution has transformed the river, which runs into Delhi dump. But the urgency and mismanagement of the authorities prevented any rescue plan to be effective, accuses The Times of India.Nerone pinçait his zither and recite verses while Rome was burning. The government of Delhi and the Delhi Jal Board [responsible for the treatment and distribution of drinking water in the National Capital Territory of Delhi] prefer for their wasting their time in court battles - relating to the deadline for cleaning the Yamuna - while this tributary of the Ganges River is dying. The rivers are natural places to live. And the Yamuna, one of the seven sacred rivers of India, not only departed from that rule. Its waters were clean and sheltered fauna and flora. Today, despite a very strong cultural tradition that the rivers should be revered as deities, the Yamuna is dying. This long river of 1,370 km is one of the dirtiest in the world. And Delhi, spilling its garbage, sewage, industrial residues, animal carcasses and other debris, is responsible for 57% of such pollution. The dirty water is rarely retired, they are becoming more toxic. As the Yamuna remains relatively static nine months out of twelve, waste stagnated in water for long periods instead of being scattered, causing groundwater pollution in surrounding areas. Excluding non-recycled waste produced by homes illegally or not on the banks of the river. Since 1993, the Supreme Court has issued several guidelines calling on the governments of the Territory of Delhi and the state of Haryana to prevent industrial effluents to be discharged into the Yamuna. But if the authorities in Delhi have called for a ban on illegal housing that drove like mushrooms along the river, we are still not clear what became the huge subsidies that were allocated for saving the Yamuna : 18 billion rupees [more than 311 million euros] over fourteen years, or double the amount spent for the Ganges. Knowing that the river runs through the city about 22 kilometers, a quick calculation shows that, for every kilometre, it has spent 1 billion rupees [about 17.3 million euros] without there being any improvement. A number of sewage treatment plants were built, as envisaged by the plan of action, but most operate underground system. The collection networks sewers are too old to carry wastewater to reprocessing plants. Must we conclude that the people who designed the program unaware that there should be transported by dirty water distribution pipes? Whether the rescue plan Ganges, the Yamuna or any other major public works project, their planning and execution often sorely lacking common sense. |
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