India is the country of rivers that can be termed as the lifeline of Indian people across the country. Now, the lifelines of India are in dying condition and the threat is coming from the continuous routine dumping of millions of tonnes of sewage across the country. The lacks of proper sewage system in India’s most of the cities are main culprit behind the killing of India’s rivers.
Could you believe that New Delhi is alone responsible to produces 3.6 billion litres of sewage per day. The threatening part of the story is that the city’s poor management is unable to treat half of the sewage produce in a day.
The remaining untreated waste is dumped into the Yamuna River daily. Now, you can imagine the condition of River Yamuna, that is lifeline for Delhiites. This not the story of Yamuna only, the same thing is being happened with almost every river in India.
According to Sunita Narain, director of the Centre for Science and Environment, There is much talk about the industrial pollution damaging our rivers, but sewage pollution is itself is a big problem that is playing a major role in river pollution. The Yamuna is dead, we just haven’t officially cremated it yet.
According to the Central Pollution Control Board, at least 70 percent of the pollution in the river Yamuna is nothing but human excrement that results in several water-borne diseases such as diarrhoea. It has an effect on the health of thousands of poor people residing near the river because they drink the water and take bathe in it.
Several environmentalists have said that there is 300 sewage treatment plants in India and most of them are underutilized and badly located. Most of the sewage treatment plants mix the treated waste with untreated sewage and throw into rivers.
At the same time, India has a badly structured and managed drainage system in ‘working’ condition. It is in need of repair as more than half of India’s drainage system is virtually outmoded. The climate change is also another threat to India’s water supplies with Himalayan glaciers that is the main source of several rivers in north India.
