How promises to clean Yamuna can translate into action

THE Yamuna river figured prominently in the just-concluded Delhi Assembly elections. After the BJP's victory, Prime Minister Narendra Modi assured Delhi that the new government would make every effort to clean the river. "It may be a long haul, but Mother Yamuna will surely bless our efforts," he said. Will this help the cause of the river?

There is a lot that the Delhi government can do to improve the state of Yamuna. Flow and connectivity are the defining characteristics of any river. The Delhi government can work to ensure that the Yamuna has sufficient freshwater flow downstream from the Wazirabad barrage, where there is none today.

There is also a need to improve the different kinds of connectivity that define the river: longitudinal (between upstream and downstream at various points within Delhi); lateral (between the river and its tributaries and the floodplains); and vertical (for groundwater recharge).

On the pollution front, three key areas that need attention are: sewage treatment and performance of sewage treatment plants (STPs); performance of central effluent treatment plants (CETPs) to treat industrial effluents; and proper management of solid waste since a lot of solid waste ends up in rivers when not managed properly.

But the Yamuna exists beyond Delhi and the state of the river upstream and downstream has an impact on the state of the river within Delhi. So, for all the above issues, Delhi needs to work with the upstream and downstream states.

The Central government has a huge role to play here. The way the Centre deals with the river has a bearing on each of the above aspects of Yamuna. Since the Yamuna is the biggest tributary of the Ganga, the National Mission for Clean Ganga can make a huge impact on its fate. So too can the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests, Jal Shakti Ministry — including the Central Water Commission and the Upper Yamuna River Board — the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (which has the Delhi Development Authority under it) and the Central Pollution Control Board. Unfortunately, these central agencies have not performed well enough to give the Yamuna a new lease of life in Delhi.

Delhi has a very high sewage treatment capacity (around 760 million gallons per day) as compared to other cities in India. And yet, the Yamuna is in bad shape in Delhi. The key reason is that the STPs and CETPs are not functioning as designed.

The governments have installed STPs with large capacity at huge expenditure but failed to ensure that the plants function as planned. There is no transparency, accountability or participatory management in the governance of the STPs. No one knows why the STPs are not functioning as planned, nor are there any consequences when STPs do not function as planned.

If the government is really interested in improving the state of the Yamuna, it needs to address the governance of the STPs and CETPs. If all the plants in Delhi were to function as designed and planned, the state of the Yamuna would hugely improve in the capital. Sewage, that is a curse now, would become a boon for Delhi as treated sewage can replace freshwater for a number of activities, thus also reducing the demand for freshwater and freeing some freshwater for Yamuna's environment flows.

For this, rainwater and local water bodies within Delhi can be used in the way Bengaluru is doing. Rejuvenated water bodies within Delhi can harvest rainfall. In the post-monsoon months, adequately treated sewage can be released in such water bodies, which will help treat it further and also recharge groundwater.

The outgoing AAP government had started this process and it can be taken to the next level.

In fact, the new government in Delhi needs to achieve much better rainwater harvesting, which, in turn, can help decrease the demand for freshwater from the Yamuna and, thus, free up some additional water for environment flows in Delhi. It can ensure that all government buildings, parks, roads, bridges, metro stations, schools, colleges, malls, multiplexes, embassies, etc must have functioning rainwater harvesting systems and some of them can also recharge groundwater.

The sponge effect of these functioning rainwater harvesting systems would also reduce the floods in Delhi during the monsoons and make rainwater available post monsoon. It will also have an exemplary demonstration effect of functioning rainwater harvesting systems for others to emulate. The improved state of the river in Delhi will be a boon during Chhath puja and other festivals, it will improve micro-climate and also create a much-needed scenic, peace-giving place for the city dwellers.

The state of the Yamuna in Delhi is also affected by the following: dams and diversions of the water; the state of pollution in the river; its flow and connectivity; sand-mining; groundwater use and recharge; state of local water bodies and wetlands; aquatic and terrestrial biodiversity; state and extent of natural forests and state of tributaries of the Yamuna upstream and downstream of Delhi.

The pattern and quantum of rainfall and snowfall in the Yamuna basin and the state of glaciers in the upstream are also relevant here.

Thus, the Yamuna puzzle has many components. A Delhi water policy can be a key instrument to provide guidance on these issues. The new government in Delhi can, through the involvement of people, prepare such a policy. Importantly, the BJP is also in power in other Yamuna basin states like Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Uttarakhand.

The AAP and the Congress must act as a responsible Opposition in the Delhi Assembly and Parliament and keep the Yamuna issue alive.

A lot can and must be done to improve the state of Yamuna in Delhi. The challenge of climate change must also be considered. Let us see what the new government actually does.