The
Yamuna Action Plan is a bilateral project between the
Government of IndiaThe Government of India, officially known as the Union Government, and also known as the Central Government, was established by the Constitution of India, and is the governing authority of the union of 28 states and seven union territories, collectively called the Republic of India...
and
JapanJapan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
. It is one of the largest river restoration projects in India. The government of Japan, via the Japanese Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC), has provided financial aid of 17.7 billion yen to carry out the project, which is being executed by the National River Conservation Directorate, the
Ministry of Environment and ForestsThe Ministry of Environment and Forests is an Indian government ministry. The Minister of Environment and Forests holds cabinet rank as a member of the Council of Ministers...
, and the
Government of IndiaThe Government of India, officially known as the Union Government, and also known as the Central Government, was established by the Constitution of India, and is the governing authority of the union of 28 states and seven union territories, collectively called the Republic of India...
.
The River Yamuna
Originating from the
YamunotriYamunotri is the source of the Yamuna River and the seat of the Goddess Yamuna in Hinduism. It is situated at an altitude of in the Garhwal Himalayas and located approximately North of Uttarkashi, the headquarters of the Uttarkashi district in the Garhwal Division of Uttarakhand, India...
glacier in the lower
HimalayasThe Himalaya Range or Himalaya Mountains Sanskrit: Devanagari: हिमालय, literally "abode of snow"), usually called the Himalayas or Himalaya for short, is a mountain range in Asia, separating the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau...
, the
YamunaThe Yamuna is the largest tributary river of the Ganges in northern India...
is one of the largest tributaries of the Ganges river network. The river travels a total of 1376 kilometers crossing several northern states in
IndiaIndia , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
including Uttrakhand,
HaryanaHaryana is a state in India. Historically, it has been a part of the Kuru region in North India. The name Haryana is found mentioned in the 12th century AD by the apabhramsha writer Vibudh Shridhar . It is bordered by Punjab and Himachal Pradesh to the north, and by Rajasthan to the west and south...
,
Uttar PradeshUttar Pradesh abbreviation U.P. , is a state located in the northern part of India. With a population of over 200 million people, it is India's most populous state, as well as the world's most populous sub-national entity...
and later
DelhiDelhi , officially National Capital Territory of Delhi , is the largest metropolis by area and the second-largest by population in India, next to Mumbai. It is the eighth largest metropolis in the world by population with 16,753,265 inhabitants in the Territory at the 2011 Census...
, the capital of the country. In
HinduHindu refers to an identity associated with the philosophical, religious and cultural systems that are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent. As used in the Constitution of India, the word "Hindu" is also attributed to all persons professing any Indian religion...
mythology, the Yamuna is considered the daughter of Sun God, Surya, and sister of Yama, the God of Death, hence also known as Yami. According to popular legends, bathing in its sacred waters frees one from the torments of death.
The Delhi stretch of the Yamuna
With an annual flow of about 10,000 cubic meters and usage of 4,400 cubic meters (of which irrigation constitutes 96 per cent), the river accounts for more than 70 per cent of Delhi’s water supplies. The water of Yamuna is of "reasonably good quality" through its length from Yamunotri in the Himalayas to Wazirabad in Delhi, about 375 km, where the discharge of waste water through 15 drains between Wazirabad barrage and Okhla barrage renders the river severely polluted after Wazirabad in Delhi. The media generally describes the river as “dead” and "sewage drain" with biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) values ranging from 14 to 28 mg/l and high coliform content.
There are three main sources of pollution in the river, namely households and municipal disposal sites, soil erosion resulting from deforestation occurring to make way for agriculture along with resulting chemical wash-off from fertilizers, herbicides, and pesticides and run-off from commercial activity and industrial sites.
YAP-I
The first phase of the Yamuna Action Plan was formulated on the basis of a study conducted by the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC), and covered Delhi, eight towns of
Uttar PradeshUttar Pradesh abbreviation U.P. , is a state located in the northern part of India. With a population of over 200 million people, it is India's most populous state, as well as the world's most populous sub-national entity...
, and six towns of
HaryanaHaryana is a state in India. Historically, it has been a part of the Kuru region in North India. The name Haryana is found mentioned in the 12th century AD by the apabhramsha writer Vibudh Shridhar . It is bordered by Punjab and Himachal Pradesh to the north, and by Rajasthan to the west and south...
. Launched in 1993, the project was originally planned to be completed by April 2000, but was later extended until February 2003.
The National River Conservation Directorate (NRCD) under the
Ministry of Environment and ForestsThe Ministry of Environment and Forests is an Indian government ministry. The Minister of Environment and Forests holds cabinet rank as a member of the Council of Ministers...
(MOEF), GOI were the executing agencies for the YAP project with the Uttar Pradesh Jal Nigam (UPJN) in UP, the Public Health Engineering Department (PHED) in Haryana, and the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) in Delhi, being the chief Project Implementing Agencies (PIAs).
The components of infrastructure involved construction of Drain Interceptors, Diversion Sewer Lines, Sewage Pumping Stations (PS), and Sewage Treatment Plants (STP). 32 STPs were constructed and a total sewage treatment capacity of about 735 MLD was created.
During the extended phase of YAP-I, more emphasis was given to address various non-sewerage issues. The strategy for these was formulated under the Special Assistance for Project Implementation (SAPI) study conducted by JBIC. The Yamuna Action Plan–I, under the aegis of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi, did not lay much stress on public awareness and participation, prevented it from becoming a people's campaign. However, a public participation & awareness (PP&A) programme was launched to generate awareness among the beneficiaries in the project area.
Projects under YAP–II
The Yamuna Action Plan was unable to address the issue of the Yamuna cleanliness fully, particularly in the 22 km Delhi stretch. A few new towns in Uttar Pradesh were identified that were adding to the pollution in the river. This led to the development of YAP–II.
Under the Yamuna Action Plan II, the most critical stretches of Yamuna have been taken in to consideration, especially the Delhi stretch, where the city dumps more than 58% of the total sewage it generates.
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