Cut use of chemical fertilisers to save Yamuna: Ramesh (Indian Express- 28 March 2011)

Geeta Gupta

New Delhi : Environment and Wildlife minister meets Dikshit, Hooda to discuss ways to keep river healthy
Excessive algae in the Yamuna brought Union Minister for Environment and Wildlife Jairam Ramesh’s survey of the river to a brief halt on Sunday, prompting the minister to note the damage to the water body due to excessive use of chemical fertilisers in its neighbouring areas.
Now, the minister has asked for a notification under the Environment Protection Act, prohibiting the use of chemical fertilisers near Yamuna. This is part of a slew of measures announced by Ramesh for the “good health” of the river.
The Central Pollution Control Board has also been asked to set up an electronic pollution monitoring system at Palla, Badarpur and Wazirabad.
Delhi Jal Board officials are hopeful that the directions issued on Sunday will have a positive impact in reducing pollution and contamination in the river.
“The minister has asked the Delhi Pollution Control Board to issue a notification prohibiting the use of chemical fertilisers on the river banks,” said Ramesh Negi, CEO of the Jal Board.
Ramesh also met with the chief ministers of Delhi and Haryana, along with senior DJB officials, on the issue of pollution in Yamuna. He is learnt to have given “positive” leads to the two neighbouring states on reducing pollution, also assuring a re-look at the Renuka Dam project to provide the river with an up-storage dam to tap monsoon flow.
“Haryana has been asked to set up a sewage treatment plant (STP) at Panipat and link all its pollution-generating industries to the common effluent treatment plant (CEPT). This may take close to six months,” a senior DJB official said.
At present, only 35 of the 512 polluting industries in Panipat are linked to the CETP.
For Haryana’s Drain 6, which releases all domestic sewerage into the river, the minister has demanded that an STP be set-up at the mouth of this drain. “He has also asked for an early completion of the parallel concrete channel from Munak to Wazirabad, which will automatically reduce the pollution levels in the river,” Negi said.
Ramesh also pumped in some hope for the much-debated Renuka Dam project.
“As per a Supreme Court ruling, the river must have 10 cubic metres of water flowing per second to ensure fresh water in the Yamuna. But most of the water dries up by the time it reaches Yamuna Nagar and Panipat, after it is released from Tajewala,” Negi said.
“There will be continuous monitoring of water pollution at Palla, where Yamuna enters Delhi from Haryana, and at Badarpur where Yamuna flows from Delhi back to into Haryana,” Ramesh said after the meeting at Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit’s residence.