Devotees Offering Prayers In Toxic Foam-Filled Yamuna River For Chhath Puja Is Beyond Shocking
The River Yamuna which passes through the national capital is equally bad and it has been deemed unsafe for consumption and bathing for long. Despite the fact that the river water is toxic and it was covered with toxic foam floating on the surface thousands of women walked into the water. Some found the toxic form enjoyable and turned it into a photo opportunity with them playing with the toxic foam.
Delhi is polluted as hell, there is no doubt about it and people have been advised against venturing outside and have been asked to avoid outdoor activities as possible as they can to lower the health risks.
It is not just the air in Delhi that is polluted beyond the safe limits of human consumption, it is also the rivers. The River Yamuna, which passes through the national capital is equally bad and it has been deemed unsafe for consumption and bathing for long.
REUTERS
In fact, it is one of the most polluted water bodies in the world and it has been the same for years now. Given this fact, it was shocking to see people venturing into the river, which is considered sacred by Hindus, on the occasion of Chhath Puja on Sunday.
AFP
One of the key rituals of Chhath Puja is standing and offering prayers in water, facing the rising sun.
And like everywhere else where Chhath Puja is celebrated, in Delhi too, thousands of women gathered at the ghats on the nearest water body to offer the prasad to the rising sun.
REUTERS
For many, it was the ghats along the Yamuna banks. And despite the fact that the river water is toxic and it was covered with toxic foam floating on the surface, thousands of women walked into the water, stood in knee-deep waters and offered their prayers and performed the rituals.
REUTERS
What is even more shocking is that some found the toxic form enjoyable and turned it into a photo opportunity, with them playing with the toxic foam.
REUTERS
The foam in River Yamuna is so bad, it can bee seen from the space!
Folks asked me if this was true n visible in Satellite images.
¡ª Raj Bhagat Palanichamy (@rajbhagatt) November 4, 2019
Attached images in which we can see d foam
Foam forms when polluted water gushes out of barrages/weirs etc. In this case, water is polluted all through but foam formation is in a section near outlet of Okhla barrage https://t.co/PkElW8d1c8 pic.twitter.com/pI61VCd2TY
River Yamuna, which originates from Yamunotri and passes through seven states before joining the Ganga at Allahabad turned into a toxic mess due to the years of unregulated waste dumping into it. It is estimated that more than half of Delhi's sewage ends up in the river.
AFP
Earlier this year the National Green Tribunal, while expressing dissatisfaction over the cleaning of the Yamuna river and directed Delhi, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh governments to submit a performance guarantee of Rs 10 crore each within a month. It had also directed all stakeholders to give a specific schedule for cleaning the River Yamuna.
"Such pollution needs to be controlled at the earliest for protection of the environment and public health and having regard to the unique significance of the Yamuna river, which is a major tributary of the Ganga river," the bench had said.
Bobins Abraham is the Assistant News Editor at Indiatimes. He has more than twelve years of experience in TV and digital journalism. An avid student of history and geopolitics, he is a conservationist and environmentalist at heart. He writes on environment, sustainability, human-animal conflict and more.
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