Children stand in waist-deep polluted water of the Yamuna in Delhi. Photo: Vikas Choudhary/CSE
Governance

Of toxic rivers and ruined futures

Whether rivers or children, policy failures are widespread across the country

Vikas Choudhary

Toxic foam floats across the surface of the Yamuna while children stand waist-deep in polluted water at ITO in Delhi.

The children have been scraping through material dropped by devotees into the river from a nearby bridge.

These photos raise concerns about public health, riverine health and also about poverty in India.

These photos raise dual concerns. One is over public health and untreated wastewater flowing into the river. 

The other is about the poverty that affects so many people in India. So prevalent is it that young children have to rummage through waste like this, in the hope of finding something that can get them some money.

Policy failures of governments, whether past or present, are widespread in the country, these photos show.

Either way, these photos show the failure of policy in India by governments, past and present.