Managing water quality of River Yamuna in NCR Delhi

River Yamuna is a typical example of degraded lotic ecosystem which has been turns into a sewage drain in Delhi National capital region due to anthropogenic pressure and aggravating pollution load. Delhi is alone responsible for 79% of the entire pollution load in the said river. The drain discharges exerting a massive BOD load of hundreds of tons per day into the river. The pollutants could not get diluted as the river has very little or no flow in non-monsoon months due to lack of indigenous water. Water quality index reveal that before entering Delhi, river water has the medium water quality, gets severely polluted in Delhi, shows very bad water quality which continues till Agra Canal. Improper location of STPs and mismatch between the available treatment capacities of STPs with the actual sewage generation results muddle up of “approx” 60% untreated wastewater into the River Yamuna. Implementation of sustainable management plan with already available facilities, proper sewerage planning and maintaining the minimum ecological flow will control the pollution in River Yamuna.