Home / Environment / Yamuna River: Delhi's Water Quality Plummets
Yamuna River: Delhi's Water Quality Plummets
11 Apr
Summary
- Biological Oxygen Demand reached 60 mg/l, 20 times safe limit.
- Dissolved Oxygen levels were zero downstream, indicating high pollution.
- River declared 'ecologically dead' due to severe contamination.
The Yamuna River in Delhi is critically polluted, with recent data revealing alarming levels of contaminants. The Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD), a measure of oxygen required by aquatic organisms, peaked at 60 mg/l in March, twenty times the safe limit of 3 mg/l. This marks a significant deterioration in water quality.
Dissolved Oxygen (DO), essential for aquatic life, ranged between 3.1 mg/l and 4 mg/l upstream but was zero downstream in March. Experts have declared the river 'ecologically dead' due to the severe pollution load and grave health implications. Fluctuations in pollution levels in drains like Najafgarh and Sonia Vihar are a cause for concern.
Activists and experts point to potential untreated effluents entering the river from the Haryana side and a failure in pollution control mechanisms. The reduced environmental flow during the lean season further exacerbates the problem, preventing natural flushing of pollutants. The current situation underscores the abysmal failure of pollution prevention efforts.
