Farmers grow greens on Delhi’s rural fringe with dark wastewater

While scientists warn against the practice, cultivation continues, given ground realities of rising water stress in the area

On the far southwestern edge of Delhi, farmers are growing green vegetables using dark wastewater.Photo: Vikas Choudhary/CSE

Published on:

15 May 2026, 12:57 pm

In the agricultural belt near Dichaon Kalan and Hirankudna villages of southwest Delhi, rows of green vegetables continue to grow beside the polluted Najafgarh and Mungeshpur drains.

For many farmers, the dark wastewater flowing through these channels has become the only reliable source of irrigation amid declining groundwater and rising water stress in the region.

According to scientists and health experts, prolonged use of such untreated wastewater can contaminate soil, enter the food chain and pose long-term health risks to both farmers and consumers.Photo: Vikas Choudhary/CSE

However, scientific experts warn that prolonged use of such untreated wastewater can contaminate soil, enter the food chain and pose long-term health risks to both farmers and consumers.

However, cultivation continues in these villages given the ground realities of rising water stress in the region.Photo: Vikas Choudhary/CSE

But in the two villages, farmers continue their cultivation, reflecting the difficult balance between sustaining livelihoods and confronting the environmental cost of polluted urban wastewater in Delhi’s rural fringe.

Delhi