Explainer:Panipat dyeing units, sewage polluting Yamuna a major concern for govt

The pollution of Yamuna river is always a major concern for Haryana and Delhi. Even in the recent Assembly elections in Delhi, the Yamuna pollution had become a hot issue between the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the BJP. After the BJP was sworn in at Delhi, the BJP-led Haryana Government also took a serious note of it. Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini has directed all officials concerned to identify the points from where drains and nullahas merge into Yamuna river. The Yamuna flows from Yamunanagar to Palwal district and after that it enters Uttar Pradesh. The Yamuna enters Delhi from Dahisra village in Sonepat district and after crossing Delhi it enters Faridabad district in Haryana.

Why is the pollution in Yamuna a major concern in Panipat?

The Yamuna enters Panipat from Rana Majra village and traverses 33 km up to Rakshera village, beyond which it flows into Sonepat district. It is at Khojkipur village that Drain 2 discharges into the river, creating a stark contrast in water colour — a visual indicator of contamination. Panipat is globally known as ‘Textile City’ and lakhs of people work in thousands of textile units here. The dyeing is said to be the ‘mother’ of the textile industries. As per the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) textile industries are considered in be in the highly polluted category i.e. Red Category. In the dyeing process, hazardous chemicals are used by the dyers and bleaching unit owners, which is being discharged into the drain by scores of illegal dyeing units directly through sewer lines or by tankers, which leads to the Yamuna.

What are the main sources of pollution?

Flow of untreated sewage and untreated chemicals by the illegal industrial units plays an important role in polluting the Yamuna in Panipat. According to the Haryana State Pollution Control Board (HSPCB) data, the Panipat has a combined sewage treatment plant (STP) capacity of 168.5 million litres per day (MLD), while the city generates around 100 MLD of sewage. Of this, only 78 MLD is being treated while the remaining 21 MLD (2.10 crore litres) is discharged directly into Drain No.1 and Drain No. 2, which leads to the Yamuna. Similarly, scores of dyeing units have connected their sewers with the main sewer line and they discharge untreated highly chemical effluent through the sewer lines. Scores of illegal industrial units discharge their untreated effluent into the drains through tankers and sewer lines.

What do the recent reports say?

The HSPCB collected water samples from Drain No. 2 at Khojkipur — where the drain merges with the Yamuna — have failed multiple laboratory tests, revealing severe pollution levels. As per the reports, the biological oxygen demand (BOD) at the sampling point was recorded at 60 mg/l, far above the prescribed limit of less than 3 mg/l. The chemical oxygen demand (COD), ideally zero, was found at 300 mg/l, and the TDS crossed 2,000 mg/l, against a safe limit of 650 mg/l, the water conductivity exceeded 2,870, while oil and grease content stood at 42.5, whereas the permissible CPCB limit is 10.

What steps have been initiated to curb the pollution?

HSPCB teams from the district and the special teams from the pollution board headquarters regularly collect samples to monitor the pollution level in the Yamuna. A special task force (STF) comprising — officials of the district administration, pollution board, judiciary — has been formed at the district level and the state level to curb the pollution. Number of STPs and CETPs are functional and the government is regularly monitoring the reports from these. The HSPCB has identified 23 illegal units mainly located along Chautala Road and Sector 29 industrial area and show-cause notices have been served on them for discharging untreated effluents into Drain 2. The HSPCB has also identified 47 specific points where domestic sewage from colonies enters the drain and has also wrote to the municipal corporation to tap these points. The teams recently caught six tankers that were discharging industrial effluent into the drain in Panipat.

Haryana Tribune