Lok Sabha Question No. 179 (STARRED), answered on 2021-12-09
Subject: Ammonia in Yamuna River
Ministry: JAL SHAKTI
Asked by: Manoj Kumar Tiwari, Ravindra Kushawaha

## THE MINISTER OF JAL SHAKTI

(SHRI GAJENDRA SINGH SHEKHAWAT)

(a) to (e)         A Statement is laid on the Table of the House.

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## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF JAL SHAKTI, DEPARTMENT OF WATER RESOURCES, RIVER DEVELOPMENT & GANGA REJUVENATION

## LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. *179

ANSWERED ON 09.12.2021

## AMMONIA IN YAMUNA RIVER

## *179. SHRI MANOJ TIWARI SHRI RAVINDRA KUSHWAHA

Will the Minister of JAL SHAKTI be pleased to state:

(a)  whether  water  supply  has  been  affected  in  many  parts  of  Delhi  due  to  increased  ammonia  level  in Yamuna river recently and if so, the details thereof; (b) whether the problem of increased ammonia level in major rivers has become a perennial problem due to uncontrolled amount of pollutants released into the rivers from various industrial units and if so, the details thereof; (c) whether the Government is aware that lack of coordination between the States is one of the primary reasons for this problem; (e) the other steps taken by the Government to prevent industrial units and factories from discharging their

(d) if so, the details thereof and the corrective steps taken by the Government to solve this problem; and waste into the river?

## ANSWER

## STATEMENT TO BE LAID ON THE TABLE OF LOK SABHA IN RESPECT OF PARTS (a) TO (e)  OF  LOK  SABHA  STARRED  QUESTION  No.  *179   FOR  09.12.2021  REGARDING 'AMMONIA  IN  YAMUNA  RIVER'  ASKED  BY  SHRI  MANOJ  TIWARI  AND  SHRI RAVINDRA KUSHWAHA, M.P.

(a) Water Quality Assessment of river Yamuna reveals that there is an occasional rise in ammonia levels in  river  Yamuna  at  Wazirabad  barrage.   As  informed  by  Delhi  Jal  Board  (DJB),  the  water  supply  was affected  intermittently  in  many  parts  of  the  National  Capital  due  to  ammonia  pollution  with  rise  in Ammoniacal Nitrogen levels.  The Water Treatment Plants (WTPs) of Delhi Jal Board at Chandrawal, Wazirabad and Okhla lift partial  raw  water  from  river  Yamuna  and  stop  water  intake  from  Wazirabad barrage when Ammoniacal Nitrogen reaches the level of 01 mg/L, as the WTPs operated by DJB are not having  adequate  preliminary  treatment  facilities  to  handle  such  raw  water.   This  affects  production  of drinking water at these plants ranging from 50 Million Gallons per Day (MGD) to 100 MGD.

(b) Possible reasons for high Ammoniacal Nitrogen in river Yamuna, are due to (i) discharge of untreated sewage from upstream towns in Haryana,  (ii) discharge from industrial  units  especially  fertiliser  units, (iii)  discharges from Common Effluent Treatment Plants (CETPs), Sewage Treatment Plants (STPs), (iv) illegal  discharge  of  sewage  from  un-sewered  colonies  in  outer  Delhi,  (v)  septage  discharge  through tankers in Haryana and Delhi, (vi) less flows in river Yamuna coupled with anaerobic decomposition of accumulated sludge on the riverbed.

Central  Pollution  Control  Board  (CPCB)  in  association  with  the  State  Pollution  Control  Boards (SPCBs)/Pollution Control Committees (PCCs) is assessing the ambient water quality of both surface and ground water under National Water Monitoring Programme (NWMP) at 4,294 locations in the country including  2,026  locations  on  rivers.  The  water  quality  is  assessed  for  various  parameters  (physicochemical, bacteriological, heavy metals and pesticide concentration) as prescribed under Guidelines for Water Quality Monitoring, 2017 (GWQM, 2017) issued by Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change (MoEF&CC).  The  assessment  of  water  quality  is  done  on  monthly,  half  yearly,  quarterly  and yearly  frequency.   Water  quality  of  the  major  rivers  with  respect  to  Ammoniacal  Nitrogen  parameter assessed and the data for year 2020 is given at Annexure - I.

Assessment of water quality of river Yamuna was carried out by CPCB at 7 locations and major drains upstream of Wazirabad during 7 -13 January, 2021, twice a week, during 31.05.2021 to 12.07.2021 at Palla, located on Haryana-Delhi border as well as during 08-09 November, 2021 and 11th November, 2021.  It revealed that:

- i. Dhanurea Escape, Panipat Drain, and Drain No. 2 are discharging Ammoniacal Nitrogen (NH3-N) between 13-42 Milligrams Per Liter (mg/L),
- ii. Impact of Dhanurea Escape and Panipat Drain gets assimilated by the river Yamuna at Sonepat with Ammoniacal Nitrogen levels coming down to 1.5 mg/L,
- iii. Ammoniacal Nitrogen (NH3-N) again  rises  from  1.5  mg/L  at  Palla  to  3.0  mg/L  at  Wazirabad.
- iv. Ammoniacal Nitrogen was observed in the range of 0.4 mg/L - 7.2 mg/L during monitoring in month of June-July, 2021 at Palla.
- v. Ammoniacal Nitrogen was observed in the range of 4 - 15.8 mg/L during monitoring in month  of November, 2021.

(c) & (d) 28 States/ 3 UTs are implementing Action Plans prepared by State River Rejuvenation Committees for  rejuvenation  of  351  polluted  stretches  identified  by  CPCB  in  2018  in  the  country  and  duly  approved  by CPCB.  Besides, CPCB monitors the performance of industries in various basin States.  The matter of pollution of rivers in country is also being monitored through regular meeting by Central Monitoring Committee (CMC) under Chairmanship of Secretary, Ministry of Jal Shakti with Chief Secretaries of all States/ Union Territories as members.  11 meetings of CMC have been held since January, 2020.

In respect of ammonia problem in river Yamuna in Delhi, based on discussions in meeting chaired by Secretary, Ministry of Jal Shakti and attended by Chief Secretary of Delhi and Haryana on 20.02.2018, short and long-term measures/ recommendations were made for action by the States.

A 'Study  Group'  constituted  by  CPCB  has  also  suggested  short  term  and  long  term  measures  for control  of  pollution  in  river  Yamuna  by  the  States  of  Delhi  and  Haryana.   Joint  Surveillance  Squad  (JSS) comprising officials of Haryana and Delhi States has been constituted for identification of hot spots, sources of pollution,  illegal  discharges,  if  any  and  present  practices  followed  for  treatment  of  generated  sewage  in  the unauthorized colonies between Palla and Delhi. JSS is to carryout frequent inspections as per the schedule and submit the reports.

(e) Stringent  monitoring,  regulation  and  enforcement  towards  compliance  of  Grossly  Polluting  Industries against  regulatory  framework  mandated  under  consent  mechanism  issued  in  respect  of  provisions  of  Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974 is undertaken through CPCB, SPCBs and Pollution Control Committees (PCCs).

Industry  specific  effluent/emission  standards  are  notified  by  Ministry  of  Environment,  Forest  & Climate  Change  under  Schedule-I:  'Standards  for  Emission  or  Discharge  of  Environmental  Pollutants  from Various Industries' of Environment Protection Act, 1986.  SPCBs and PCCs in States and Union Territories respectively are to ensure compliance of these standards. So far, 47 industry specific effluent standards and 63 industry specific emission standards have been notified.

In  Haryana, there are 14 Common Effluent Treatment Plants (CETPs) with total capacity of 161.5 MLD having  discharge  in  Yamuna  basin.  As  per  report  of  Haryana  State  Pollution  Control  Board,  all  the CETPs are complying with regulatory norms. In Delhi, the compliance of all the 13 CETPs with capacity of 212.3 MLD has been improved from 'nil' compliant CETPs in July 2021 to nine compliant CETPs in September 2021 after necessary directions were issued by Ministry of Jal Shakti.

Besides  this,  financial  assistance  is  also  being  provided  under  Namami  Gange  Programme  to industrial clusters to upgrade/ augment their CETPs.  For Yamuna river, upgradation of one CETP project in Mathura for textile industrial cluster has been taken.

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ANNEXURE REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PART (b) OF STARRED QUESTION NO. *179 TO BE ANSWERED ON 09.12.2021 REGARDING 'INTER-LINKING OF RIVERS'.

| Water Quality Data of Major Rivers Monitored underNWMP for Ammoniacal Nitrogen Parameter during the Year 2020   | Water Quality Data of Major Rivers Monitored underNWMP for Ammoniacal Nitrogen Parameter during the Year 2020   | Water Quality Data of Major Rivers Monitored underNWMP for Ammoniacal Nitrogen Parameter during the Year 2020   | Water Quality Data of Major Rivers Monitored underNWMP for Ammoniacal Nitrogen Parameter during the Year 2020   |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Sl. No.                                                                                                         | Name of the River                                                                                               | Ammonical Nitrogen (mg/L)                                                                                       | Ammonical Nitrogen (mg/L)                                                                                       |
| Sl. No.                                                                                                         | Name of the River                                                                                               | Min                                                                                                             | Max                                                                                                             |
| 1                                                                                                               | BEAS                                                                                                            | 0.14                                                                                                            | 18.00                                                                                                           |
| 2                                                                                                               | CAUVERY                                                                                                         | 0.01                                                                                                            | 43.00                                                                                                           |
| 3                                                                                                               | GANGA                                                                                                           | 0.01                                                                                                            | 41.00                                                                                                           |
| 4                                                                                                               | GODAVARI                                                                                                        | 0.01                                                                                                            | 8.18                                                                                                            |
| 5                                                                                                               | KRISHNA                                                                                                         | 0.01                                                                                                            | 11.20                                                                                                           |
| 6                                                                                                               | MAHANADI                                                                                                        | 0.01                                                                                                            | 26.10                                                                                                           |
| 7                                                                                                               | MAHI                                                                                                            | 0.01                                                                                                            | 12.04                                                                                                           |
| 8                                                                                                               | NARMADA                                                                                                         | 0.01                                                                                                            | 17.64                                                                                                           |
| 9 SABARMATI                                                                                                     | 0.06                                                                                                            |                                                                                                                 | 23.30                                                                                                           |
| 10                                                                                                              | SATLUJ                                                                                                          | 0.01                                                                                                            | 30.00                                                                                                           |
| 11                                                                                                              | TAPI                                                                                                            | 0.01                                                                                                            | 64.80                                                                                                           |
| 12                                                                                                              | YAMUNA                                                                                                          | 0.10                                                                                                            | 31.20                                                                                                           |
| 13                                                                                                              | BAITARNI                                                                                                        | 0.08                                                                                                            | 15.20                                                                                                           |
| 14                                                                                                              | BRAHMANI                                                                                                        | 0.12                                                                                                            | 62.00                                                                                                           |
| 15                                                                                                              | BRAHMAPUTRA                                                                                                     | 0.14                                                                                                            | 2.80                                                                                                            |
| 16                                                                                                              | PENNAR                                                                                                          | 0.01                                                                                                            | 4.20                                                                                                            |
| 17                                                                                                              | SWARNREKHA                                                                                                      | 0.01                                                                                                            | 14.00                                                                                                           |