The National Green Tribunal has directed the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) to file a status report about rising ammonia levels in the Yamuna, which has left its water beyond treatment and forced the closure of the Wazirabad and Chandrawal plants.
A bench headed by NGT chairperson Justice Swatanter Kumar has now sought details about the action taken.
The order assumes significance as high levels of ammonia, ranging between 2-2.5 ppm (parts per million), was found in the river. It was after this that Delhi Water Minister Kapil Mishra wrote to Union Water Resources Minister Uma Bharti about the “deteriorating” water quality of the river.
The Minister noted that “if the quantum of ammonia in raw water increases to 0.5 ppm, the treatment of raw water has to be suspended as ammonia, with the treating agent chlorine, gives rise to trihalomethane, which is carcinogenic”.
The NGT has now convened a meeting with concerned authorities on January 28.
On November 3 last year, the NGT had asked the DJB to satte how much money it spent on the construction of a sewage network and Sewage Treatment Plants. Expressing surprise over its annual budget of over Rs. 1,400 crore for the purpose, the tribunal restrained DJB from spending more than Rs. 50 crore.
