Five-state panel formed to oversee Yamuna clean-up plan

Delhi’s 22km Yamuna stretch from Wazirabad to Okhla contributes the most to the river’s overall pollution load, even though it is only about 2% of the river’s length.

The central government has formed an interstate committee, led by the Union home secretary, to oversee a Yamuna rejuvenation plan from its origin at the Yamunotri glacier in Uttarakhand to its confluence with the Ganga at Prayagraj. The panel includes the chief secretaries and pollution-control board heads of Delhi, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, along with the Central Pollution Control Board, Delhi Jal Board and National Mission for Clean Ganga.

Its 10-point agenda includes stopping pollution from reaching the river, industrial-waste management, water-quality monitoring, wetland protection and new sewage treatment plants. States have submitted plans on industrial discharge, sewage-treatment gaps and timelines for new plants.

For Delhi, upstream wastewater remains a central constraint. About 200 million litres a day enters the Yamuna from Uttar Pradesh drains, including the Sahibabad, Indirapuram, Banthla and Lalbagh drains. The Delhi Jal Board told the panel it is building decentralised treatment plants on drains at a cost of more than ₹3,500 crore.