CHANDIGARH: Once revered as a sacred lifeline for northern India, the Yamuna River now stands as a grim reminder of administrative failure and political blame games. Despite multiple government action plans, court interventions, and thousands of crores spent on rejuvenation efforts, the stretch flowing through the end of Haryana and Delhi remains polluted.
The toxic mix of untreated sewage, industrial effluents, plastic waste, and declining water flow has left large parts of the river biologically dead. What worsens the crisis is a deepening rift between the successive governments of Delhi and Haryana, both of which continue to accuse each other of polluting the river instead of finding common ground.
Ground research suggests that untreated sewage from municipalities contributes to 80% of the pollution load in the river and causes foam formation. Sewage Treatment Plants (STPs) in all Yamuna states are functioning below their optimum utilisation capacity.
However, Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini is taking a keen interest in making the holy river free from pollution and recently directed his officers to ensure that not even a single drop of polluted water flows into the river, which is seen as a significant step toward making the Yamuna free from pollution.
But tapping pollution in the Yamuna remains an uphill task for the authorities. As per the figures, Haryana has a total population of 92.4 lakh in the Yamuna catchment area, with a total sewage generation of 1,239 MLD. The figures revealed that the state was planning to increase the total number of STPs to 89 with a treatment capacity of 1,526 MLD in the Yamuna belt. But at present, there are a total of 85 STPs installed in the catchment of the river Yamuna with a capacity of 1,486.2 MLD.
As per the latest status, 14 STPs are not meeting the prescribed parameters, and there is a gap of 325.5 MLD in the installed treatment capacity at present compared to the requirement. Most of the gap is in Faridabad (232.5 MLD) and Gurugram (93 MLD) districts. The officials monitoring the project revealed that the state government has approved Rs 262.67 crore for bioremediation of legacy waste, and out of the approved amount, Rs 181.59 crore has been released.
As per the latest report from the Yamuna Action Plan, Haryana has identified 125 locations in the Yamuna catchment area as polluting sources where untreated and partially treated effluent is joining the main drains discharging into the river, and an action plan for 46 locations has been prepared to tap the flow. The groundwater quality is being monitored at 81 locations in the catchment of the river Yamuna by HSPCB, and groundwater is found fit for drinking at 55 locations and non-complying at 25 locations—including 8 in Palwal, 3 each in Panipat, Yamunanagar, and Ballabgarh, and two each in Karnal, Faridabad, and Nuh.
However, the situation remains worst in Delhi, as the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) revealed that the stretch from Wazirabad to Okhla accounts for nearly 80% of the river’s pollution, with faecal coliform levels exceeding 7.9 million units per 100 ml, drastically higher than the permissible limit of 2,500.
Meanwhile, in Haryana, besides the Ditch Drain and Drain number 2, which flow untreated waste from Panipat and Sonipat, adding to the pollution in the river, the Gandha Nallah of twin industrial cities of Yamunanagar and Jagadhri, which flows through Dhanaura escape canal and mixes into the Yamuna River near Gheer village of Karnal, is also another major source of the pollution.
The recent parliamentary panel report highlighted that 3,792 cases of sand mining were recorded in Haryana in the last five years, claiming that the excessive sand mining causes riverbed alteration, affecting river courses and causing bank erosion.
The figures from the Mining and Geology Department of Haryana show that over the last five years, a total of 3,792 cases across five districts resulted in fines and penalties amounting to Rs 33.63 crore. Yamuna’s stretch in Yamunanagar district remained the worst affected by the mining, as out of 2,599 cases, a fine of Rs 21.22 crore was recovered; Panipat had 151 cases, with a recovered fine of Rs 2.18 crore; Karnal reported 202 cases, recovering Rs 2.20 crore in fines; Sonipat, with 281 cases, recovered Rs 3.04 crore; while Faridabad and Palwal jointly witnessed 559 cases, with a fine of Rs 3.98 crore recovered.
Even state government has constituted the District Level Task Force under the Chairmanship of the Deputy Commissioner with Superintendent of Police to monitor and stop any incidence of illegal mining. Haryana Environment Minister Rao Narbir Singh recently informed the state assembly that once the Yamuna Action Plan is fully implemented by 2027, the pollution issues in the Gurgaon Canal and other connected waterways will be addressed. As part of the plan, three new STPs are being installed, and 13 existing plants are being upgraded.
Varun Gulati, a Delhi-based Yamuna activist, recently shared a video of the polluted water being discharged into the Yamuna River from Sonipat. He said, “The main cause of Yamuna pollution in Delhi is the daily discharge of two crore litres of contaminated water into Drain Number 6 by the CETP of Barhi HSIIDC, Sonipat, and the dyeing industries operating there.”
He said that only strict compliance with the directions with a tap on the industrial waste being released into the river could help to make the Yamuna free from pollution, and the government must set up more water treatment plants, especially in the industrial hubs.
On being contacted, Vineet Garg, chairman of Haryana State Pollution Control Board, told The Sunday Guardian, “We are working on the directions of the Chief Minister, and action will be taken against the people found discharging the untreated effluent into the Yamuna River.”
Experts attribute the failure to systemic flaws, inadequate sewage coverage, lack of minimum environmental flow, and absence of interstate coordination.
The South Asia Network on Dams, Rivers, and People (SANDRP) emphasises that at least 50% of upstream water at Hathnikund Barrage must be released to restore the Yamuna’s self-purifying capacity.