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In Delhi, while the Chhath festival is celebrated in various parts, the Yamuna river bank at Kalindi Kunj finds a special mention due to a thick and toxic foam that covers the river surface.
There will be over 1,000 Chhath ghats across Delhi this year, ensuring devotees can worship ‘Chhathi Maiya’ near their homes, CM Atishi had announced last month. (Image: PTI File)
Although Chhath Puja is associated majorly with Bihar but in Delhi it is a topic of political blame game between the ruling Aam Aadmi Party and opposition BJP. It was around 10 years ago that the images of women dipped in foam water at the banks of river Yamuna offering ‘Araghya’ to the rising sun started emerging and there has been no change in the picture till date.
Chhath Puja is a festival that celebrates sun – both setting and rising. The ritual requires devotees to take a dip in water bodies. The ritual also includes ‘arghya’ (offering) to the sun as the devotee stands waist deep in water.
In Delhi, while the festival is celebrated in various parts, the Yamuna river bank at Kalindi Kunj finds a special mention due to a thick and toxic foam that covers the river surface. The devotees take a dip in the polluted water as they worship the sun. The images have made headlines internationally.
The city, which has a complex administrative structure, witnesses a political blame game before the festival starts that continues until the issue subsides.
As per the Centre for Science and Environment, a public interest research and advocacy organisation, Yamuna – the largest tributary of the Ganga – gets 80 per cent of its total pollution from Delhi.
“This stretch (in Delhi) is the most polluted stretch of the river in its long journey. The river’s stretch in Delhi is barely 2 per cent of the length of the total river basin, but it contributes over 80 per cent of the total pollution load in the entire river,” a note from the body says.
The 2021 note also says that this pollution load is added to the river due to urban and industrial pressures. All the pollution parameters show that the river is dead in its Delhi stretch – the dissolved oxygen (DO), which tells you if the river has life, is zero when the river passes through Delhi.
“Delhi takes the river’s water and returns only sewage into it: the barrage at Wazirabad (where the river enters the city) takes water for drinking, and after this the river receives waste discharged from 22 drains,” it said.
The note also mentioned that the frothing is a sign of a polluted river and release of untreated or poorly treated effluents – household and industrial wastewater – are the reasons behind the frothing.
“Specifically, phosphates in the river form the froth: these phosphates come from detergent effluents from households and industries. At this time of the year, Yamuna has less water flow. As a result, pollutants do not get diluted,” it said.
As per the Delhi Development Authority (DDA), Yamuna is the longest river in India which does not directly flow to the sea. It merges with Ganga at the Sangam in Prayagraj. The river enters Delhi at Palla Village and exits at Jaitpur. It flows through urban Delhi from Wazirabad Barrage to Okhla Barrage. Effluents from twenty-two major drains are being discharged into the river.
The political Fight
While the political fight around Chhath is an annual affair, it is more intense around poll years. The city will have assembly elections in the next few months and both BJP, ruling at the centre, and AAP, in power in Delhi, will leave no stone unturned to ensure their image is not damaged due to the pollution in Yamuna.
Leader of Opposition in the Delhi Assembly Vijender Gupta has been asking the questions since last few weeks. Gupta questioned former Chief Minister of Delhi Arvind Kejriwal on how he plans to make people take a dip in the Yamuna River during Chhath Puja this year.
BJP’s Gupta said after coming to power in 2015, Kejriwal promised the people of Delhi that the Yamuna would be clean enough within five years for people to take a dip in it. Kejriwal has reiterated this promise on various occasions every year.
“In 2021, Kejriwal even claimed that if he failed to clean the Yamuna before the 2025 elections, people should not vote for the AAP…,” he said.
Gupta also listed close to ten incidents when Kejriwal promised for a cleaner river starting from November 2015 until March 2023 – when he said he will fulfill the promise he made to take a dip in the Yamuna before the next election, scheduled for February 2025.
The LoP said that from 2015 to 2024, nine years have passed, but Kejriwal has failed to fulfill his promise of cleaning the Yamuna.
“Chhath is about to begin in a few days, and due to the Delhi government’s inaction, the people of Delhi will be forced to take a dip in the toxic, foamy, and foul-smelling waters of the Yamuna,” Gupta said.
In attacking the AAP in power, even the Congress party, which has been out of the Delhi assembly since 2015, has not been behind.
Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee president Devender Yadav accused the government of misappropriating over Rs 6,500 crore in the name of treating sewage effluents before releasing the sewer water into Yamuna by the Delhi Jal Board (DJB).
In the manifestos of 2015 and 2020 assembly elections, where AAP swept the polls, the party had promised a cleaner Yamuna.
AAP’s Stand
Chief Minister Atishi said the government is spraying silicon-based food grade defoamer that reduces the pollution of the Yamuna.
Acknowledging foaming at Kalindi Kunj, she said it is proof that the level of pollution in Yamuna is increasing.
“But the truth is that this foam is formed in Yamuna because the industrial areas of Haryana release 165 MGD of polluted water into Yamuna through Badshahpur Drain, Mungeshpur Drain, DD-6. On the other hand, the BJP government of UP releases 55 MGD of polluted water through Sahibabad Drain and Indrapuri Drain,” she said.
Atishi went on to say that with the festival season approaching, the BJP, also in power in UP, closes the gate of Kalindi Kunj Barrage so that all the dirty water comes to Delhi.
To address the issue of ghats, the Delhi government has established model ghats in each constituency. There will be over 1,000 Chhath ghats across Delhi this year, ensuring devotees can worship ‘Chhathi Maiya’ near their homes, Atishi had announced last month.
All these Chhath Ghats will be equipped with clean water, tents, electricity, toilets, security, medical facilities, power backup, CCTV cameras, and other necessary arrangements, including cleanliness.
Last month, as Satyendar Jain – the former Delhi Water Minister and ex-Chairman DJB – walked free after close to 900 days in jail, he said he was arrested for his work and commitment for a cleaner river.
Jain also said that the reason BJP is stopping them is because they “failed to clean the Ganga themselves but knew that the AAP would succeed in Yamuna’s cleaning in Delhi.”
Mentioning that the situation only appears during Chhath Puja, he said the foam doesn’t form on its own, and there are two reasons for it.
“First, the industrial waste coming from Haryana and UP contains hazardous chemicals, which causes foam in the Yamuna. The second reason is that there are twelve gates at Kalindi Kunj, controlled by UP’s irrigation department. They keep most of the gates closed, opening only two or three. If they opened all the gates, the foam in the Yamuna would disappear by tomorrow,” he reasoned.
Purvanchali community in Delhi is a strong vote base. None of the parties want to lose ahead of elections in Delhi. Meanwhile, the city government has declared November 7 a public holiday for the celebration.