Involve people, focus on what ails Yamuna

Since assuming office last year, the Rekha Gupta government has announced investments in sewage treatment and drainage. However, even by conservative estimates, close to 200 million litres of sewage continues to flow untreated into the Yamuna every day.

An approach centred on sewage treatment will not be enough to cleanse the Yamuna.

3 min readOct 21, 2026 06:12 AM IST First published on: Oct 21, 2026 at 06:12 AM IST

Reports of thousands of dead fish floating in the Yamuna near Burari in Delhi last week were a warning of the river’s poor health. Experts have not conclusively established the cause of the deaths, but point to possible industrial effluents, low dissolved oxygen levels and inadequate environmental flows. The Delhi government’s “Chalo Yamuna” clean-up drive is, therefore, timely. On Sunday, Chief Minister Rekha Gupta and other BJP leaders joined volunteers in clearing waste from 70 ghats, while appealing to residents to stop discarding plastic, broken idols and religious offerings into the river. Involving the public in restoring the Yamuna’s health is welcome. But the fish deaths, reported from a stretch upstream of the Wazirabad barrage, generally considered relatively cleaner than much of the river flowing through Delhi, underline the scale of the Yamuna challenge. The episode should remind the government to stay the course in addressing the river’s chronic problems.

Since assuming office last year, the Rekha Gupta government has announced investments in sewage treatment and drainage. However, even by conservative estimates, close to 200 million litres of sewage continues to flow untreated into the Yamuna every day. At least seven sewage treatment plants failed to meet prescribed water-quality standards in September, according to the Delhi Pollution Control Committee’s latest report. The interceptor drain project, intended to capture sewage from drains in the city’s slum clusters before it enters the larger drains that empty into the Yamuna, has also been dogged by fragmented responsibilities. These shortcomings point to a familiar problem of river rejuvenation projects — investments not translating into adequate results on the ground.

An approach centred on sewage treatment will not be enough to cleanse the Yamuna. The river needs adequate clean water flows to dilute residual pollutants. Drains carrying urban sewage and industrial effluents from neighbouring areas can undermine efforts in Delhi. Pollution control authorities in the Capital cannot, therefore, clean the river in isolation. The Centre must bring Delhi, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh together to set common pollution targets, share data and establish clear lines of accountability. Environmental flows, industrial discharge and sewage treatment need to be addressed as parts of the same problem. The Chalo Yamuna campaign can encourage residents to treat the river with greater care. But public participation will need to be matched by sustained investment, scientific oversight, diligent enforcement and cooperation among the states that share the river.