New Delhi, more than 640 million liters of sewage on Thursday, according to the government data shared in the Lok Sabha in the Lok Sabha on Thursday, has ignored the Yamuna river every day despite the completion of nine major projects under the Namami Gage program in Delhi.
In a written reply, Minister of State for Water Power, Raj Bhushan Chaudhary, said that Delhi produces about 3,596 million liters per day.
The Delhi Jal Board operates 37 sewage treatment plants with a total installed capacity of 3,474 MLD. By June 2025, 2,955 MLD was being used, Chaudhary said.
However, only 2,014 MLD treated sewage from 23 STPs met the Delhi Pollution Control Committee’s discharge standards, while 14 STPs were non-non-non-compliance. About 641 MLD sewage remains untreated and enters the Yamuna or its drainage network, the minister said in response.
The Central Pollution Control Board is monitoring water quality at four places in Delhi Palla, Nizamuddin, Okhla Barrage and Asgharpur.
While the river in Palla showed relatively better water quality, data from January to June 2025 indicated a high level of demand for biochemical oxygen and coliform downstream to the stool.
In Nizamuddin, BOD levels were between 37 and 52 mg/L, while the stool cooliform counts went up to 7.9 lakh MPN/100 ml.
In Okhla barrage, the BOD value reached 50 mg/L and the coliform reached 9.2 lakh MPN/100 ml to the coliform, the minister said.
Asgarpur recorded the worst contamination, with BOD levels 72 mg/L and the fecal coliform touches 1.6 million MPN/100 mL.
The limitations prescribed for river water are below 3 mg/L and coliform to feces under 2,500 MPn/100 mL.
The MPN/100 mL stands for the most potential number per 100 ml per 100 ml, which is used to estimate the number of bacteria or microorganisms in the water sample, especially when direct count is difficult or not possible.
CPCB also conducted annual inspections of gross polluting industries with Yamuna in Delhi.
In 2024, 189 GPI was inspected, of which 158 were operational and 31 were self-appointed. In operating units, 49 were found to be non-compliance with discharge criteria or lack of valid consent to operate. They were served with 40 show-causes and nine closed directions by the respective pollution control boards.
Under the Namami Ging Program, nine projects with a joint sanctioned cost Government data shows that 1,951.03 crore 1,268 mLD sewage treatment capacity, 1,951.03 crore.
Major functions included the construction of 564 MLD and 318 MLD treatment plants and rehabilitation of trunk sewer and growing main.
Since January 2025, overall 140 crore has been allocated for Yamuna cleaning efforts in Delhi, of which 108.31 crore has been used.
The Ministry of Water Power said that the cleanliness of Yamuna is a continuous process, providing financial assistance to the states of Delhi, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh.
This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without amending the text.
