Yamuna Needs Smarter Plans, Not Just More Money

Delhi [India] May 08: For years, the Yamuna River in Delhi has been dirty and smelly. People still hope it will become clean, but the truth is different. Even after spending more than ₹6,800 crore, the river still flows full of waste. A new report says the problem is not just money. It’s the way the cleaning is done. The city needs better planning, not just more spending.

Sewage Without a Route

One big reason the river stays dirty is because many areas do not have proper sewers. People there use tankers to take waste away. But these tankers sometimes dump it into drains or the river. Experts now say every tanker must have GPS so we can track where it goes. If the waste goes to a proper plant, it can be treated and reused.

Treatment Plants Not Working Fully

Delhi has 37 treatment plants to clean dirty water. These plants can clean 96% of the waste made daily. But they are only cleaning about 80% of it. That means a lot of dirty water goes straight into the river. And from the water that is treated, only some of it meets the correct quality level. This is a big reason why the Yamuna still smells bad.

Where the Most Waste Enters

Only a short stretch of the river—between Wazirabad and Okhla—is making 80% of the pollution. That’s just 22 km long. Most of the waste comes from Najafgarh and Shahdara drains. The report says these two drains need a fresh plan. Without fixing these spots, we cannot clean the river. New ideas are needed to stop dirty water before it reaches the Yamuna.

A Call to Think Better

Sunita Narain, a water expert, says it’s time to change the way we look at the problem. She said the city doesn’t even know how many people it has clearly, which makes planning hard. The answer is not to build new pipelines everywhere. Instead, we must treat the water near the river before letting it in. And make sure the rules for water cleaning plants match how the water will be reused.