River Yamuna Cleaned Itself in this lockdown period of 60 days.
The government failed even after trying various measures in the last 25 years in cleaning of Yamuna, but it happened with the 60 days all India Lockdown being imposed due to Covid-19 Pandemic.
The government has failed cleaning the Yamuna with 5,000 crores at disposal over 25 years and two months of lockdown due to the coronavirus infection did it. All the industries dump its mostly untreated effluents into the river in the 1400 KM long passage that’s covered by the Yamuna. Between Haryana’s Panipat and Delhi alone, over 300 units of industrial discharge is released into the Yamuna, making it the country’s most polluted river. The river picks up 80 per cent of its pollutants at Delhi, Agra and Mathura.
Most of the industries halted or slowed due to the lockdown and hence the river got a chance to have it cleaned itself, and as a result of it one can now see Indian and migratory birds, such as Grey Heron, Ibis and Storks feasting on fish, which too can be seen swimming in the river’s clearer waters.
“I have been associated with the Yamuna Action Plan since the year 2000 and I have never seen the river this clean. The level of pollution reduces further and its water becomes clearer near Etawah; here the water from Chambal river further dilutes the pollution. I am amazed at the effect the lockdown has had on all rivers,” said Dr Rajeev Chauhan, a conservation officer with the Wildlife Institute of India-Dehradun, who has been studying the Yamuna river for the past 30 years.
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