Highly polluted water flowing into Yamuna: Khattar to CM

NEW DELHI: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal received a letter from his Haryana counterpart Manohar Lal Khattar in which he expressed serious concern over the release of “highly polluted” water into the Yamuna river and Gurugram canal.

He urged Kejriwal to direct all the departments of the Delhi government for ensuring that no untreated or partially treated effluent is released into the river and the canal.

In the letter, Khattar said Yamuna enters Delhi at Palla in Sonipat district and then again near Okhla Head in Basantpur village in Faridabad district. It travels at a stretch of 52 km in the NCT of Delhi. “During this course, more than 60 drains having partially treated or untreated effluent of industrial or domestic sources, outfall into it. This causes severe pollution of the river before its re-entry into Haryana,” he wrote in the letter.

Khattar said Bio-chemical Oxygen Demand (BOD) in the Yamuna at Basantpur village during July-December, 2018 has ranged from 45-46 milligram per litre against the permissible limit of 3.0 milligram per litre.  The BOD in Gurugram canal  ranged from 32-45 milligram per litre. 
It is a matter of grave concern as the release of highly polluted water severely affects the health of a large number of families of Gurugram, Faridabad, Palwal and Nuh, he said. It also badly impacts agricultural productivity in these districts.