Clean Yamuna: What Govt Couldn't Do In Years With Millions Of Rupees, Lockdown Did In 2 Months
Nature took a breath of relief in the aftermath of the lockdown as water bodies and air quality became pristine due to a massive reduction in human activity across the world. In India, a major effect was seen in air quality and rivers, which are dying of pollution.
Nature took a breath of relief in the aftermath of the lockdown as water bodies and air quality became pristine due to a massive reduction in human activity across the world.
In India, a major effect of lockdown was seen in air quality and rivers, which are dying of pollution.
River Yamuna, which is considered ecologically dead, along most of its course, regained its sparkle flowing through the national capital New Delhi. This happened after decades of filthy and stinking waters, matted with garbage and polluted with toxic effluent from industry.
In a feat that eluded years of government cleanliness efforts, a nationwide lockdown against the coronavirus has brought about the transformation of a river many Hindus consider holy, with a halt in industrial activity since late in March.
Sanjay Gir, a 55-year-old Hindu monk who spends his time on the riverbank, said he could not remember when he had last seen the river so clean.
¡°Ever since the lockdown, we can take Mother Yamuna¡¯s water in our hands and offer it for prayer, as well as drink it,¡± bearded Gir, clad in traditional white dhoti, told news agency Reuters.
¡°Because everything is closed right now - all the factories, industries are shut...their waste is not coming into the river.¡±
From its source among Himalayan peaks, the river meanders 1,376 km (855 miles) through a clutch of northern states to join the river Ganges in the city of Allahabad, where Hindu tradition says the two merge with a third, the mythical Saraswati.
One of the world¡¯s toughest lockdowns against the coronavirus, which has caused nearly 217,000 infections and more than 6,000 deaths in India, kept out most of the industrial waste that normally clogs the Yamuna.
Back in December 2018, Union Minister of State for Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation Dr Satya Pal Singh, in a written reply in Lok Sabha said the total expenditure incurred on the conservation of river Yamuna under the Yamuna Action Plan Phase ¡ª I and II is Rs 1,514.70 crore. The cleaning of the river is a continuous process and the government has so far sanctioned 17 projects for the Yamuna river under Namami Gange at an estimated cost of Rs 3,941.73 crore, for creation and rehabilitation of STP capacity of approximately 1,772 MLD.
Clearly, such an enormous amount of money and action plans have had little effect on the river's water quality.
File photo
This is the key reason for better water quality in the river. Many videos and pictures on social media showed the return of marine animals and migratory birds.
However, the water quality will deteriorate again once the lockdown is lifted and industrial activities resume, discharging untreated effluents in the river.
