All this froth around a toxic Yamuna

With Chhath Puja around the corner, it is of course time to take annual note of the Yamuna’s cleanliness — when else (and why else) would you bother?

The Yamuna itself, upon its arrival into Delhi, must be full up of the sonorous slogans and empty promises. Yet the Delhi NCT (National Capital Territory) government’s efforts to mislead the public continue in full spate.

The latest innovation: instead of addressing the cause of the white foam that appears on the Yamuna’s surface every year — ‘enhancing’ images of celebrants of the festival — this year the floaters are to be masked with a new chemical.

An estimated 5 million people spend approximately 36 hours at the Yamuna ghats in Delhi throughout the Chhath festival...

So, to welcome them, the BJP govt in Delhi is spraying silicone defoaming agents, polyoxypropylene and other substances to make the river appear foam-free. While these chemicals temporarily eliminate the foam, making the surfactants settle, they do nothing to eliminate the persistent pollutants within the river, for the foam is but the visible part of the toxicity ‘iceberg’.

This is patently a step taken under immediate political and social pressure — and instead of actually cleaning the river, it adds a new source of pollutants.

For those who come for the holy dip in salutation to the sun, the river shall look clean... But is it hard to understand that spraying additional chemicals on an already pollution-laden water body is at best a quick fix, and a dangerous one at that, threatening to exacerbate the river’s crisis? The purely cosmetic measure ignores the root of the problem, and its long-term adverse effects would potentially pose a serious threat to human health — and the river’s ecosystem as well, further damaging it.

The foam seen afloat on the Yamuna in and around the capital city is primarily from excessive amounts of phosphates and other surfactants and detergents. There are also PFAs — per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances that are persistent organic pollutants that present health and environmental risks, having been linked to liver damage, thyroid disease, increased cholesterol and effects on the immune and reproductive systems (including potentially infertility), testicular and kidney cancers, hormonal imbalances and development impacts on children.

These effluents come from the direct discharge of untreated or inadequately treated industrial waste and sewage into the river within a 22 km radius of Delhi.

And this now-hidden burden of ammonia and phosphates, of industrial and sewage pollutants, are not going to be neutralised by these new chemicals. Continuously adding more chemicals to the river is bound to impact aquatic life and biodiversity in and around it instead.

Humans exposed to these chemicals may experience respiratory problems, skin allergies or other health problems. The anti-fog chemicals themselves include PFAs and surfactants that continue to threaten bathers with their harmful effects, depending on their concentration and individual skin sensitivity.

The harm may be limited, but the risk is very real, nevertheless.

Washing away health and happiness

Frequent exposure to PFAs is especially dangerous for children and pregnant women, due to their persistence and accumulation in the body and due to their disproportionate impact on a smaller body.

Many anti-fog chemicals include ingredients such as propylene glycol, fluoro surfactants or sodium lauryl sulphate — all frequently found in commercial and industrials detergents, soaps and shampoos as well — which can strip the skin of its natural oils and protection. They can cause everything from itching to full-blown rashes, with reddened, irritated and inflamed skin, all the way to an allergic reaction (often showing up as hives) in those sensitive to them.

And this is before any accidental swallowing of the river water while bathing, or its entry into the nasal passages.

The government claims these chemicals are safe, citing international usage. Yet internationally published research papers have also taken note of the health risks to devotees bathing in these chemical-laden waters during Chhath Puja.

According to experts, the Yamuna water already contains ammonia, phosphates and a high burden of coliform bacteria, resulting in skin problems of itching, redness, eczema in the medium term and assorted infections both skin and gastrointestinal. Adding more chemicals can multiply these effects, plus contact with silicone defoaming agents can increase the eye irritation from the existing pollution.

In addition to bathing in the polluted waters, devotees of the sun god perform achamana during Chhath Puja. Even the powerful Surya himself can’t vanquish these harmful chemicals entering the body this way, leading to vomiting, gastrointestinal problems and long-term health risks, including cancer.

The Yamuna river water already contains worrying levels of heavy metals such as lead and arsenic, too.

Industrial and domestic waste discharged into the Yamuna is already a cocktail of countless chemicals. It is doubtful whether the government has studied whether its anti-foam additions could potentially cause a new, unexpected chemical reaction, either, so who knows what other devastating consequences may lie in wait.

Not just a human harm

Underlying the illusion of now de-foamed ‘clean’ water will remain toxic levels of pollutants, which also raise the biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) and chemical oxygen demand (COD), dangerously depleting aquatic life — and allowing organic and inorganic pollutants to pile up further.

It's no secret that the Yamuna River ecosystem is already in serious trouble. This shortcut of ‘cleaning up’ by adding new chemicals further accelerates the destruction of this ecosystem.

For defoaming agents create their own unique type of pollution in the water. These chemicals are extremely harmful to aquatic life, especially fish and turtles.

Due to excessive pollution, oxygen levels (dissolved oxygen, DO) in many parts of the Yamuna have already dropped so low that it is difficult for aquatic life to survive. The addition of chemicals can further exacerbate this oxygen crisis or directly damage the tissues of organisms, leading to increased mortality and reduced biodiversity.

Furthermore, residues from these de-foaming chemicals will accumulate in the river sediment, gradually adding contaminants to the river’s environment over time — and this toxic build-up is likely to accumulate, starting with aquatic plants and small organisms that form the basis of the food chain.

And next season...?

It's worth noting that the Yamuna's foaming problem isn't just a seasonal phenomenon; it is just that the visibility of Chhath Puja celebrations creates this momentary urgency — and the pressure to find a quick fix.

At the heart of it, the pollution level of the Yamuna remain a clear indication of the failure of Delhi's inadequate sewage and wastewater treatment system.

Approximately 3.5 billion litres of sewage enter the Yamuna every day, a large portion of which is untreated sewage being dumped in. Delhi has 37 STPs (sewage treatment plants), but these have failed to clean the Yamuna.

Unless the sources of pollution — untreated sewage and industrial effluents — are addressed, nothing really changes. Spraying on chemical is not merely a sham in the circumstance, but a deflection and an abdication of responsibility. (And here it must be admitted it is not just this BJP government; the AAP before that also put out images of a clean de-frothed river a couple of years ago, using the same stratagem.)

The lack of political and civic will is the reason the Yamuna remains unable to emerge from the intensive care unit, despite numerous funds and plans.

Don't forget, approximately Rs 8,000 crore has been spent so far under the Yamuna Action Plan, launched in 1993. Between 2017 and 2021 alone, the Delhi government spent Rs 6,500 crore on the Yamuna. What have these public monies yielded? The river remains in an alarming state.

Masking its filth with chemicals now for mere show is a betrayal of both humanity and the river.

Views are personal. More of Pankaj Chaturvedi’s writing may be read here