Newsletter No. 65;
IRBMS
industrial and domestic wastes. A team of of river Yamuna) has been ecologically completely
Scientist, from CPCB, DPCC and Institution like destroyed and not mere damaged. The ground is
IIT, Delhi or NEERI to carry out inspections and now totally levelled, compacted and hardened and
submit reports for remedial measures. The team is totally devoid of water bodies or depressions and
recommended a mechanism to install an olive almost completely devoid of any vegetation.
system for quality testing of water in river Yamuna
at
Palla
and
Wazirabad.
The
monitoring
Groundwater Extraction, India in a
Precarious Condition
committee also raised objection to the capacity
installation of common effluent treatment plant
which is as low as 25%. An environmentalist The Central Ground Water Authority of the Union
suggested that building of constructive wetlands is Ministry of Water Resources, River Development
a must for saving the river Yamuna. and Ganga Rejuvenation on December 12, 2018
notified
revised
guidelines
for
groundwater
The three-day World Culture Festival organized by extraction. The guidelines were revised in the wake
spiritual guru Sri Sri Ravi Shankar’s Art of Living of the directions issued by the National Green
Foundation on the Yamuna floodplains in Delhi in Tribunal (NGT) to address various shortcomings in
March 2016 the existing guidelines of ground water extraction.
had severely affected the Yamuna
flood plain is also located in this area. It has been
estimated that approximately 120 hectares (about According to the Ministry of Water Resources,
300 acres) of floodplains of west (right bank) of the India is the largest user of ground water in the
river Yamuna and about 50 hectares (120 acres) world. The information reveals that out of total
floodplains of the eastern side (left bank) of the 6584 assessment units, 1034 have been categorized
river have been adversely impacted ecologically at as ‘ over exploited’, 253 as ‘critical’, 681 as ‘semi
different magnitudes. A four-member committee critical’, and 4520 as ‘safe’. The remaining 96
headed by environmentalist CR Babu in August assessment units have been classified as ‘Saline’.
recommended that the foundation to pay Rs 100-
120 crore as restoration cost for extensive and Ground Water extraction in the country largely
severe damage to the floodplains of Yamuna River. goes towards irrigation in agricultural activities.
The 47-page report said that the entire floodplain This accounts for 228 billion cubic meters of water,
area used for the main event site between DND which is around 90% of the total annual
flyover and the Barapulla drain (on the right bank groundwater extraction. The remaining 10% of
4
Integrated River Basin Management Society