And Just Like That, Toxic Foam Is Back In River Yamuna, Thanks To A Rise In Pollution

The only positive thing that has happened due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the lockdown that followed was we learned that nature will heal and, it can undo the damage done by humans, only if we stay away.

One of the prime examples of this was how river Yamuna recovered and the quality of its water improved.

BCCL/FILE

In April, the Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) had found that compared to the pre-lockdown days, river Yamuna was cleaner by around 33%. Delhi Jal Board Vice Chairman Raghav Chadha had credited the improvement in water quality of the Yamuna river to the lockdown as toxic wastes and effluents are not being discharged into it.

"Many industries and offices are closed due to the lockdown these days and therefore the Yamuna is looking cleaner these days. The stoppage of industrial pollutants and industrial waste has definitely had a positive effect on water quality. We will conduct testing of the water to ascertain the percentage of improvement in the quality," Chadha had said.

BCCL/ FILE

This is something that the governments and other organizations could not do in decades, after spending hundreds of crores of rupees for it.

But once the industries along the river were forced to shut, due to the lockdown, nature did its magic and the river was in its cleanest in a very long time.

The quality of the river water had improved so much so that migratory birds and other animals were spotted there in large numbers.

While celebrating the revival of Yamuna, environmentalists had warned that all the gains could be undone if the government does not take proactive steps to stop the dumping of waste once industries resume operations.

AFP

And that seems to have fallen in deaf ears as the toxic foam was once again spotted in River Yamuna.

According to ANI, the toxic foam was seen in river Yamuna at Okhla Barrage on Friday.

The foam is formed due to a rise in pollution level. This is also hazardous for people who live in nearby areas.

AFP

Similar scenes had been witnessed during Chhath Puja last year when devotees were seen offering prayers standing in knee-deep toxic foam in the Yamuna.

AFP

This comes days after images of debris lying scattered around the Yamuna floodplain near the Nizamuddin bridge surfaced on social media.

Recently the National Green Tribunal (NGT) had ordered the Delhi government to levy sewerage charges on all households in the national capital for the pollution caused in the River Yamuna due to the discharge of untreated effluents by people who have not taken sewage connection.