Reset the action agenda for cleaning the Yamuna in Delhi-NCR--says CSE

Releases briefing paper on Yamuna and its clean-up. Says efforts made by governments and official agencies are commendable, but more needs to be done. Priority actions must be planned. “It is time to act and think differently as we move ahead,” says Sunita Narain 

To download the CSE briefing paper on Yamuna (in Hindi and English)

New Delhi, May 8, 2025: In the four years between 2017 and 2022, the Delhi government spent more than Rs 6,856 crore on cleaning the Yamuna. Delhi now has 37 sewage treatment plants with a capacity to treat over 80-100 per cent of the generated sewage, and almost 80 per cent of the city is connected to sewer lines. 

In spite of all this, why does the Yamuna continue to run polluted and unclean? A new assessment by Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), released here today at a press briefing, attempts to unravel this mystery and offer an action plan that will work. 

Yamuna: The Agenda for Cleaning the River – as the assessment report is titled –says: “The 22-km stretch of the Yamuna in Delhi, barely 2 per cent of the total length of the river basin, contributes over 80 per cent of the pollution load in the entire river. There is no water in the river for almost nine months in a year – what flows in it is just sewage and waste from Delhi’s 22 drains. The Yamuna ceases to exist after it enters Delhi at Wazirabad.” 

Speaking at the press briefing, CSE director general Sunita Narain said: “The problem of cleaning the Yamuna is not a new one; huge amounts of money have been spent over the years, plans have been initiated and carried out. The agenda for cleaning the river is critical as a ‘dead Yamuna’ is not just a matter of shame for the city and for us – it also adds to the burden of providing clean water to Delhi as well as to the cities downstream.” 

Narain went on to add: “We must realise that cleaning the Yamuna will require much more than money. It will need a reworked plan which will guide us towards thinking and acting differently.” 

Why is the Yamuna polluted?

The CSE report identifies a few key reasons behind this state of affairs.

• Lack of data on wastewater generation: Narain says that “we do not know how much wastewater is generated by Delhi” – as there is no clear data on Delhi’s population in the absence of a regular census or on the amount of ‘unofficial’ water (groundwater and water supplied by tankers) residents use. Without this data on wastewater generation we must rework the plan
• Vast areas in Delhi depend on desludging tankers for removing their excreta and these tankers then discharge into river or drains: The current plan does not prioritize 100% interception from tankers through regulations on GPS and ensuring that this is then taken to STPs for treatment and reuse
• Mixing of treated and untreated sewage in Delhi’s drains: Delhi has 22 drains that are supposed to carry treated, clean water back into the Yamuna. But the untreated sewage also flows into these same drains through unsewered colonies or tankers that transport faecal sludge and wastewater – as a result, the entire effort of treating the wastewater is negated. 

What have we done about it till now?

Successive Central and Delhi governments and the courts have been focused on finding solutions to the problem and this is commendable. Here is a lowdown on the official actions:

• Enhanced sewage treatment capacity and utilisation: Delhi’s 37 STPs can treat over 84 per cent of the generated sewage. According to the Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC), almost 80 per cent of the generated sewage is being treated. The focus is now on improving the capacity of existing STPs and building new plants to meet future demand and by June 2025 Delhi will treat 100 per cent.
• Tighter discharge norms:More stringent standards have been introduced since the STPs in Delhi came into operation: the norm now is 10 mg/l, compared to the national standard of 30 mg/l. According to a 2024 DPCC report, 23 of Delhi’s 37 STPs are not meeting the effluent discharge standard. This means existing plants have to be upgraded and refurbished at additional cost.
• Interceptor sewers to tap the flow in the drains:The Delhi government’s Interceptor Sewer Project aims to trap 1,000 million litre per day of sewage from the city’s drains and divert it for treatment.
• Sewage pipelines in unauthorised colonies: Over 1,000 sewerage lines have been laid, says the DPCC; the remaining are in various stages of completion.
• Controlling industrial pollution: Delhi has 28 “approved” industrial areas – effluents from 17 of these are treated in common effluent treatment plants. But the quality of treatment is a matter of concern, says the CSE report; it is also unclear where the treated effluents are discharged. 

But despite all these actions, Yamuna continues to be polluted. Data from DPCC shows that within a few kms of arriving in Delhi (at Palla), it is dead. The Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD) in the river at ISBT is zero. There is also no visible improvement in the quality of river after so many years and so many plans and investment. This is why we need a review and reset, says CSE. 

What more can we do?

The CSE report recommends the following five-point action agenda:

• Priority 1: Ensure that all faecal sludge is collected from non-sewered areas and treated: Areas not connected to sewer lines are served by desludging tankers and this should be part of the agenda for clean Yamuna. The state does not have to invest in building and refurbishing costly sewage pipelines – the strategy for faecal sludge management through tankers is faster and more cost-effective. The key step is to ensure that all desludging tankers are registered and their movement is monitored so that all septage is taken to treatment plants.
• Priority 2: Ensure that treated water is not discharged into drains, where it gets mixed with untreated wastewater: As STPs are not located near the river, treated wastewater from these plants is discharged into the same drains, which are already polluted with untreated wastewater. This ‘mixing’ negates the impact on pollution control and the money spent on treatment goes waste. Each STP must plan for how it will not just treat/but how it will discharge treated effluents.
• Priority 3: Ensure full utilisation of the treated wastewater so that they do not add to the pollution load:Currently, only 331-473 MLD is reused. This is between 10-14 per cent of the treated wastewater. Each STP needs a plan not only for treatment but for how it is discharging its treated wastewater. Otherwise, we are cleaning and then wasting
• Priority 4: Plan upgrade of STPs based on reuse of treated water plan: Delhi effluent standards are more stringent than the rest of the country but this is because they are designed for discharge into the river, which has no assimilative capacity. Huge investment is needed to refurbish the current STPs to meet the standards. The standards need to be designed for reuse.
• Priority 5: Rework the plan for two drains -- Najafgarh and Shahdara-- that contribute 84 per cent of the pollution load into the river: The interceptor drain plan is not working for these two drains; despite investment, pollution is increasing. Delhi needs to rework and focus on drains that contribute bulk of pollution into the river.  

A Hindi translation of this release is also available. 

Access Down To Earth coverage of the subject and material from other sources here

For more details, please contact Sukanya Nair of The CSE Media Resource Centre: sukanya.nair@cseindia.org, 8816818864