Delhi
DELHI鈥檚 reputation as one of the world鈥檚 filthiest cities has grown with
claims that the city鈥檚 drinking water contains alarmingly high levels of
pesticides and heavy metals. The details emerged in a High Court lawsuit filed
earlier this month demanding action over pollution in the city鈥檚 Yamuna
River.
The latest lawsuit follows widespread concern about the quality of Delhi鈥檚
air, which is laden with particulates from traffic emissions (This Week, 8
March, p 9).
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Lawyer B. L. Wadehra, who brought the new case to court, claims pesticides
used on farmland in the upstream state of Haryana are to blame for much of the
pollution. At the first hearing, judges ordered central and local authorities to
report back in May on the concentrations of toxins in the river and the
tributary canals which provide water to farms and three-quarters of Delhi鈥檚 11
million inhabitants.
Wadehra鈥檚 evidence of high levels of heavy metals and pesticides, including
DDT, in the river water comes from a report by the Centre for Science and
Environment, an environmental organisation based in Delhi. The centre reviewed
the findings of pollution control authorities and academics. Its report
says that concentrations of these substances has reached alarming levels, which
could cause health problems. Indian regulations state that drinking water should
contain no detectable DDT. Yet in July 1995, one study recorded a concentration
of 203 nanograms per litre in water extracted for drinking.
The local governments in Delhi and the Haryana and Uttar Pradesh provinces
upstream are installing about 35 treatment plants for sewage which currently
flows directly into the Yamuna. This follows a series of Supreme Court rulings
in another lawsuit on river pollution which began in 1985. The court also
ordered Delhi鈥檚 industrial plants to treat their effluent.
But even when the new treatment plants are working, says Rajendra Sharma of
India鈥檚 environment ministry, the main channel of the Yamuna will still not be
fit for bathing. 鈥淔or all practical purposes you can鈥檛 call the Yamuna a river.
It鈥檚 dead,鈥� he says. 鈥淯ntil we get fresh-water flowing into it there can be no
talk of revival.鈥�
Most of Delhi鈥檚 drinking water comes from a canal that runs east of the
river, but which flows through farmland before entering the city. This water is
not tested regularly for pesticide residues. A second, western canal provides
water for farming and industrial areas of Haryana. The two canals divert almost
all of the Yamuna鈥檚 flow except during the monsoon months. During the dry
season, only sewage and industrial waste flow along the river near Delhi.
Wadehra complains that previous court cases have not addressed the problem of
river pollution from agricultural run-off. 鈥淚f farmers are using pesticides
to increase production, someone has to see that these don鈥檛 get into the river
water I鈥檓 drinking,鈥� he says.