Haryana, UP to divert Ganga, Munak water to revive Yamuna
What's the story
The Indian government has unveiled a major plan to rejuvenate the Yamuna River. The plan includes diverting water from the Upper Ganga Canal in Uttar Pradesh and the Munak Canal in Haryana. The aim is to achieve environmental flow, which is the minimum flow for maintaining the river's ecological balance. According to a PTI report, a senior government official confirmed that three projects were discussed at a recent meeting on this initiative.
Project details
Projects to enhance Yamuna's environmental flow
One of the projects involves diverting around 800 cusecs (cubic feet per second) of water from the Upper Ganga Canal at the Wazirabad barrage. Another project proposes adding 100 cusecs from Munak Canal directly into the Yamuna. A third project plans to create a third stream from Hathnikund barrage into the river, which will help reduce silt and waste accumulation, officials were quoted as saying.
Pollution reduction
Efforts to improve wastewater quality
To tackle pollution, the government is also focusing on improving wastewater quality from sewage treatment plants (STPs). The Jal Shakti Ministry, under the Yamuna rejuvenation plan, plans to hire a third-party company to assess water quality from STPs in Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, and Delhi. Meanwhile, Delhi has launched a Sewerage Improvement Scheme (SIS) to overhaul its sewerage infrastructure.
Infrastructure overhaul
Delhi's efforts to upgrade STPs
The Delhi Jal Board is working to improve water quality discharged from STPs, targeting a biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) level of 10, the prescribed limit. A deadline of 2026 has been set for Haryana to regulate the outfall from its drains up to acceptable norms. The report said the government also plans to set up more common effluent treatment plants (CETPs) in Haryana to further reduce industrial pollution.