River Yamuna has become twice more polluted during the last eight years of the Kejriwal government in Delhi, according to Lieutenant Governor’s Office sources. In 2014, at Palla, where Yamuna enters Delhi, the pollution in the river, in terms of Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD), was within acceptable limits at a mere 2. When the river left Delhi at Okhla Barrage, its BOD load was 32 in 2014. However, in 2023, while the BOD load at Palla remains at 2, the same at Okhla has risen up to a staggering 56, sources said. The year-on-year rise in pollution has been consistent since 2014, with the only exception being the year 2019, when Haryana – which was undertaking repair of the Yamuna Canal, released more than four times water into Yamuna from the Hathini Kund Barrage. The same resulted in pollutants getting washed downstream.This increase in pollution is mainly on account of, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government failing absolutely to check pollution from the Najafgarh Drain, despite persistent directions and monitoring of the Supreme Court and the National Green Tribunal, sources said. While in 2014, BOD at ISBT, just after the Najafgarh Drain falls into Yamuna was 26, in 2017, it rose to 52 and remains at a high of 38 even today. The sources said Najafgarh Drain accounts for 68.71 per cent of the wastewater being discharged into Yamuna, and the second biggest polluter is the Shahdara Drain which accounts for 10.90 per cent of discharge.
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