India’s Yamuna River coated in toxic foam as Hindu devotees gather for Chhath Puja festival
The white froth, a combination of sewage and industrial waste, shaped during the last week in sections of the Yamuna River — a tributary of the holy Ganges River — which flows about 855 miles (1,376 kilometers) south from the Himalayas by means of a number of states.
Devotee Gunjan Devi mentioned Tuesday she had no selection however to wash within the polluted waters.
“The water is extraordinarily soiled however we do not have many choices,” she mentioned, Reuters reported. “It’s a ritual to take a shower in a water physique so we now have come right here to wash.”
In accordance with the Press Belief of India, 15 boats have been deployed by the federal government to take away the froth, however specialists concern it has already induced vital harm.
“The river in Delhi’s stretch is an ecologically useless river,” mentioned Bhim Singh Rawat, from the South Asia Community on Dams, Rivers and Individuals (SANDRP). “It does not have fish or recent water birds. That has been the case for years now.”
India’s polluted rivers
For many years, sections of the Yamuna have been affected by the dumping of poisonous chemical substances and untreated sewage. In a number of sections, the river seems darkish and sludgy, whereas plastic waste strains its banks.
Rawat, from SANDRP, mentioned the polluted river is impacting individuals dwelling in a number of cities downstream, together with Faridabad, Noida and Agra. “1000’s of villagers take irrigation water from the river, they take buckets to the river for bathing and ingesting,” he mentioned.
In 2017, related trying foam appeared on Varthur Lake within the southern metropolis of Bangalore. Robust gusts of wind carried the frothy chemical cocktail onto roads.
The identical yr, a lake in Bangalore erupted into flames, which specialists consider was as a consequence of traces of petroleum within the water.
Extra reporting by Reuters.
