In the last week of October 2020, River Yamuna experienced high levels of ammonia concentration. The levels of ammonia went more than 6 times of the accepted levels. Ammonia levels had reached 3 parts per million (ppm) in raw Yamuna water. The acceptable level of ammonia is 0.5 ppm.
Yamuna river is the largest tributary of Ganga river that originates near Yamunotri glacier in western Uttarakhand. Near Dehradun, the Yamuna is joined by its biggest tributary, the Tons River. The Chambal River is Yamuna’s biggest tributary on the right. Other important tributaries of the Yamuna include the Hindon, Sarda and Giri rivers on the right and Betwa and Sindh on the left. Near Allahabad, after a course of about 1,376 km, the Yamuna joins the Ganga River.
The river water can be used either in abstracted form or as non-abstractive or in-situ water uses. The river water is abstracted at different locations for varied uses. At two places i.e. Hathnikund / Tajewala and Okhla, the water abstraction is significant.
Significant use of Yamuna water for domestic water supply is found in urban agglomerations like Delhi, Mathura, Agra and Allahabad. Irrigation is an important use of Yamuna river water. It has been estimated that about 92% of Yamuna river water is used for irrigation. In the entire Yamuna basin the irrigated land is about 12.3 million hectares and approximately half of it (about 49%) is irrigated exclusively from surface water. At present there are four irrigation canals transporting the Yamuna river water to the command areas.
In India, Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), Central Water Commission (CWC), Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC), State Pollution Control Board (SPCB) regularly monitors River Yamuna at 19 locations along with its main tributary, the Chambal River at Udi. In addition, twenty eight major drain outfalls into Yamuna are also being monitored.
Among the heavy metals investigated in the River Yamuna water, Ammonia was found to be most abundant and even exceeding the limit.
High amounts of heavy metals in water can cause several health effects such as reduced growth and development, cancer, organ damage, nervous system damage, etc.
High levels of ammonia was discovered in the river which makes it difficult to use it as drinking water or for irrigational uses.The organic pollution level increase significantly at Delhi and the biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) level do not confirm to the stipulated standard for Class C category till the confluence of river Chambal. The same stretch of the river shows fluctuations in dissolved oxygen (DO) level from Nil to well above saturation level. This reflects the presence of organic pollution load and prevalence of eutrophic conditions. Bacteriological contamination is significantly high in the entire Yamuna River stretch.
The Yamuna has become one of the most polluted in India, because so much of its course is through extremely densely populated areas where vast quantities of sewage have been discharged directly into it.
Ammonia is a colorless, pungent gaseous compound off hydrogen and nitrogen that is highly soluble in water. Presence of a high level of ammonia is difficult for aquatic organisms to sufficiently excrete the toxicant, which may lead to toxic buildup in internal tissues and blood, and potential to death. Natural sources of ammonia are decomposition/breakdown of organic waste matter, forest fires, animal and human waste, and nitrogen fixation processes. Huge gas exchange with the atmosphere, the amount of ammonia is added when industrial effluents are discharged into waters. Surface run water from the farms carries a lot of ammonia coming from fertilizers.
Ammonia levels in the river, flowing into Delhi from Haryana, had reached nearly 3 parts per million (ppm), almost six times above the acceptable limit of 0.5ppm. The supply was restored back to normal as the concentration of ammonia reduced, and the polluted water was mixed with cleaner water at various points in the DJB’s network.
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