The Yamuna at Okhla Barrage in Delhi is again full of thick pinkish-white toxic foam. Photo: Vikas Choudhary/CSE
Rivers

Yamuna: For how much longer will she be in this state?

Crores have been spent; but the river continues to stink in the national capital

Vikas Choudhary

The Yamuna, one of India’s seven sacred rivers, still continues to look like this in the national capital.

The country has spent crores on cleaning up the Ganga’s longest and second-largest tributary. But all in vain.

Caused by untreated sewage and industrial effluents, the foam in the Yamuna has become a recurring sight.

Here, volunteers clean the banks of the Yamuna near the Okhla Barrage in Delhi as thick pinkish-white toxic foam floats on the river surface.

The foam, often linked to untreated sewage and industrial effluents, has become a recurring sign of severe pollution in the Yamuna. 

Crores have been spent to clean the Yamuna, a sacred river of India. But to no avail, as can be seen here.

The 22-km stretch of the Yamuna in Delhi, from Wazirabad to Okhla, still accounts for over 80 per cent of the total pollution load of the river.

The Delhi government has pledged Rs 9,000 crores to be spent in the 2025-26 budget for cleaning the Yamuna. But as can be seen, the river stinks. Still.