Pollutants mar holy dip in Yamuna

NEW DELHI: While thousands of devotees in and around the city take the holy dip in river Yamuna during Chhath Puja every year, what they don't realise is the fact that while doing so, they are exposing themselves to a variety of health hazards causing typhoid and cholera, besides countless skin ailments.
Just sample this. According to the water quality (outdoor bathing) criteria laid down by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), the total coliform count in the water should be 500 or less.
However, as CPCB official R C Trivedi puts it, this count in Yamuna has been revolving around a whopping 1 crore.
Similarly, while the biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) at Palla (where the river enters Delhi) is well within the norms (3 mg/l), it reaches 13 times in excess at Okhla, the river's exit point.
The dissolved oxygen is also deteriorating from an acceptable one-and-a-half times above the stipulated minimum norm (5 mg/l or more) at Palla to almost nil at Okhla.
The result: risk of getting infected with a host of diseases. Says Trivedi: "This can attract all kinds of water-borne diseases like typhoid and cholera." Adds Dr Anoop Misra, professor of internal medicine, AIIMS: "If the water goes inside the mouth, the person can acquire some gastrointestinal infections and even jaundice.
If the water goes into the eyes, he/ she can get conjunctivitis and if the water is stationary, it can even lead to leptospirosis. Besides, fungal infections are commonplace."
Dr S C Bhareja, senior consulting dermatologist, Sir Ganga Ram Hospital is of a similar view: "A person is prone to bacterial infections like piodermas, besides a number of fungal infections, by taking bath in a highly contaminated water body like Yamuna."
However, Dr Nalin Nag, senior consultant, internal medicine, Apollo Hospital, differs slightly: "Skin is a good barrier. Unless it is breached, there is no problem as such."
The 22-km stretch of Yamuna that flows through the city between the Wazirabad and Okhla barrage contributes to about 80 per cent of the river's total pollution load.
According to a review report of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India on control of pollution of river Yamuna in Delhi (2004), out of an estimated 719 million gallons per day (MGD) of domestic sewage generated, 384 MGD is still being discharged untreated into the river.
Also, most of the industrial sewage of 42 MGD continued to be discharged into the river despite an expenditure of Rs 123 crore on the construction of 10 common effluent treatment plants (CETPs).