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In News
- Water production was hit due to heavy sewage and industrial discharge from Haryana.
Issue
- Recently, ammonia levels shot up to 3 ppm (parts per million), forcing water treatment plants to reduce operating capacity by 50%.
- The acceptable maximum limit of ammonia in drinking water is 0.5 ppm, as per the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS).
Causes of Pollution
- Mixing of drains:
- Mixing of two drains carrying drinking water and sewage or industrial waste, or both.
- Industrial Pollution:
- The Yamuna flows into Delhi from Haryana and the state has industrial units on the banks of Yamuna.
- Ammonia is used as an industrial chemical in the production of fertilisers, plastics and dyes.
- Natural sources of ammonia:
- Decomposition or breakdown of organic waste matter, gas exchange with the atmosphere, forest fires, and nitrogen fixation processes.
Effects of Rising Ammonia
- Biochemical oxygen Demand:
- Ammonia reduces the amount of oxygen in the water as it is transformed into oxidised forms of nitrogen.
- Hence, it also increases Biochemical oxygen demand (BOD).
- Biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) represents the amount of oxygen consumed by bacteria and other microorganisms while they decompose organic matter under aerobic (oxygen is present) conditions at a specified temperature.
- Biomagnification and Bioaccumulation
- If the concentration of ammonia in water is above 1 ppm, it is toxic to fish.
- In humans, long term ingestion of water having ammonia levels of 1 ppm or above may cause damage to internal organs.
Steps taken earlier
- Paryavaran Suraksha Samiti v. Union of India case
- SC directed that the purpose of setting up Common Effluent Treatment Plant and Sewage Treatment Plants plants.
- The state government will prioritise such cities, towns and villages, which discharge industrial pollutants and sewer directly in rivers and water bodies.
- SC directed that the purpose of setting up Common Effluent Treatment Plant and Sewage Treatment Plants plants.
- Constitutional Provisions
- Article 243W of the Constitution vests municipalities and local authorities with the performance of functions and implementation of schemes
- as may be entrusted to them, including those in relation to the matters listed in item 6 of the 12th schedule.
- Item 6 of the Schedule includes “public health, sanitation conservancy and solid waste management”.
- Article 21
- The right to clean the environment, and further, pollution-free water, have been protected under the broad rubric of the right to life.
- Article 243W of the Constitution vests municipalities and local authorities with the performance of functions and implementation of schemes
Way Ahead
- Ozone-based treatment units
- It can treat ammonia levels up to 4 ppm
- The DJB at present does not have any specific technology to treat ammonia.
- Reduce pollution at source
- The only long term solution is to have proper sewage treatment plants at the source itself.
- Mixing of drains should also be checked.
- Proper infrastructure
- The laying of a conduit pipeline to separate drain carrying potable water and sewage water.
- The National Green Tribunal-appointed Yamuna Monitoring Committee also suggested fast-track approvals to build a conduit.
- Ecological Flow
- This is the minimum amount of water that should flow in the river at all times.
- Maintaining a sustainable minimum flow would sustain underwater and estuarine ecosystems and human livelihoods.
- The Yamuna Monitoring Committee recommended to the Ministry of Jal Shakti to rework the 1994 water-sharing pact
- A pact between Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Delhi and UP to revive the river by releasing more freshwater into it.
- This is the minimum amount of water that should flow in the river at all times.
Ammonia
Yamuna
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Source: TH
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