I. The Yamuna can be cleaned up

The Yamuna can be cleaned up, but only through a complete change in its pollution management paradigm.

Pollution in the Yamuna is a foregone fact; much has been written about it. But even after more than Rs 1,100 crore has been spent on its clean-up since 1993, why is the river getting murkier every day in Delhi? There is obviously something drastically amiss in the government's strategy: this has mainly consisted of constructing sewage treatment plants, but nobody is sure how much sewage or wastewater Delhi generates! The quantum of waste a city generates is in direct proportion to the water it consumes. But Delhi's planners are completely oblivious of this water-waste relationship.

The river's pollution, therefore, is directly linked to the mindless water planning and management in the city. What is needed is a strategy that connects the river and its action plan to the city's water users and waste generators. A strategy that builds a water-prudent society.

To know more, check out the exclusive cover story on the river in Down To Earth (April 30, 2005).

Resource persons you can get in touch with are:

a. Rakesh Mohan
Chief executive officer, Delhi Jal Board
New Delhi, Ph 011-2367 8380-82; he will able to speak about all issues of water and wastewater treatment in Delhi

b. Dr RC Trivedi
Additional director, Central Pollution Control Board,
New Delhi, Ph 011-2230 2188; he is an expert on pollution in the Yamuna and wastewater treatment

c. Prof Soli Arceivala
Specialist on wastewater treatment
Mumbai, Ph 022-2218 5101,
E-mail solijal@bom5.vsnl.net.in

d. S V Suresh Babu, CSE, Ph 29955124-25,
E-mail svsuresh@cseindia.org

Appeared in Media Alert 6, May 13, 2005