Letters: Pure facts

This refers to Asit K Biswas and Cecilia Tortajada's article "Delhi's water supply: Going, going, gone?" (February 11). Of Yamuna's 1,376 km length, a mere 22-km stretch through Delhi, at two per cent catchment area, contributes 80 per cent to the river's total pollution load. The new 165 km long Yamuna Expressway along the river with a dense population and industries will only increase pollution. Delhi still empties over 60 per cent of its untreated sewage into the Yamuna directly. The expressway cost Delhi Rs 9,700 crore, but the government is yet to approve Rs 1,450 crore to modernise Delhi's existing sewage network. Today, our river basins are drying up and the exploitation of groundwater has led to the lowering of the water table in the country. We have spent crores on upgrading the quality of our rivers, be it the Yamuna or Ganga. In India, where rivers are worshipped, we have done little to translate this reverence into championing and leading simple plans to restore purity to our rivers and water bodies.

R Narayanan Ghaziabad

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