Union ministry tells par panel Yamuna water failed quality test at 22 of 33 locations
New Delhi, Apr 28 (PTI): The Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change on Monday said 22 of the 33 locations at Yamuna River being monitored did not meet the compliance standards of the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) in 2024.
A PowerPoint presentation by the ministry to a parliamentary standing committee said all seven and 12 locations in Delhi and Uttar Pradesh, respectively, failed the "primary water quality criteria for outdoor bathing", while all four locations in Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh each passed it, sources said.
In Haryana, three of the six locations at Yamuna met the required conditions, while as many failed, it added.
The CPCB's National Water Monitoring Programme (NWMP) evaluates water under the metrics of Dissolved Oxygen (DO), Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD), pH and Faecal Coliform.
Lack of adequate sewage treatment, besides untapped drains in the national capital, a major source of pollution in the river, which is the biggest tributary of the Ganga, are important causes for contamination in the Yamuna, the sources said.
The ministry, in its presentation to the committee, said 791 MLD (megalitres per day) of sewage out of the total 3,600 MLD generated in Delhi remains untreated, according to the figures of February 2025.
The ministry officials said out of 22 drains in the city, only nine are tapped, and two are partially tapped, according to the sources.
However, there are nine untapped drains in Tughlakabad, Abul Fazal, ISBT, Sonia Vihar, Kailash Nagar, Shastri Park, Barapulla, Maharani Bagh and Jaitpur, while two large drains -- Najafgarh and Shahdara -- are not technically feasible for tapping.
The ministry noted that Delhi Lieutenant Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena had constituted a high-level committee for reviewing the action plan to curb pollution in the Yamuna River in January 2023.
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Trump confronts South African president over killing of white farmers
Washington, May 21 (AP): President Donald Trump used a White House meeting to confront South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, accusing his country of failing to address the killing of white farmers.
“People are fleeing South Africa for their own safety," said Trump, who at one point dimmed the lights in the Oval Office to play a video of a communist politician playing a controversial anti-apartheid song that includes lyrics about killing a farmer. "Their land is being confiscated and in many cases they're being killed."
Ramaphosa pushed back against Trump's accusation. The South African leader had sought to use the meeting to set the record straight and salvage his country's relationship with the United States. The bilateral relationship is at its lowest point since South Africa enforced its apartheid system of racial segregation, which ended in 1994.
“We are completely opposed to that,” Ramaphosa said of the behaviour alleged by Trump in their exchange.
Experts in South Africa say there is no evidence of whites being targeted, although farmers of all races are victims of violent home invasions in a country that suffers from a very high crime rate.
