QUALITATIVE STUDY OF YAMUNA WATER ACROSS THE DELHI STRETCH

The Yamuna River, a tributary of the Ganges, is one of the most polluted rivers in India and especially in urban cities like Delhi is of a critical water quality. The discharge of untreated waste water is the main reason of the decrease in water quality. While emission sources like dumping of waste material, religious offering of flowers or food, immersion of idols, holy baths, clothes washing or cattle bathing can lead to serious pollution, industrial wastewater pollution is a serious matter of concern. The rapid growth and the high population density in India have made the situation worse and out of control. Although there are many schemes and policies such as The Yamuna Action Plan phase I, II and III, an improvement is seemingly noticeable. River Yamuna enters the Delhi Stretch at the Palla Village and is exited from the Okhla Barrage, this study is aimed to compare and analyze the water parameters upon its entrance and exit. The CPCB monitoring of Yamuna is done at 4 stretches in the Delhi stretch which are Wazirabad Barrage, Nizamuddin Bridge, ITO, and Okhla Barrage. The tests included parameters such as Biological Oxygen Demand, Chemical Oxygen Demand, Dissolved Oxygen, Chloride Content, pH and other physical parameters too. These results were measured during non-monsoon season where only 20 % of the annual rainfall appears. The results can vary in monsoon season but in comparison to the average values of CPCB most results were similar.