Report: Delhi not doing enough to fight water pollution

A pollution watchdog has said officials in Delhi have made insufficient efforts to deal with water quality problems in the Najafgarh drain basin.

This is having a major impact on the Yamuna River and the levels of pollution in it, according to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), and the city's officials have been warned that things need to change.

According to the board, other areas of the country have made and executed plans to reduce industrial pollution levels while Delhi has not enacted 39 action plans thought up in its December 2009 study.

These plans would seriously help the zones that are critically polluted but nothing has been done.

Despite these accusations, a Ministry of Forest and Environment official denied that the organisation was in the wrong, instead putting the blame on the Delhi Pollution Control Board.

They told Mail Online: "We are close to finalising the plans for the three zones in Rajasthan. But the Delhi Pollution Control Board (DPCB) has been completely callous and done nothing.

"We had a meeting with their officials on September 28 and 29 but they have not come out with a proposal that meets the standards demanded by us."

The country's water resources minister, Harish Rawat, spoke of his disappointment too, especially when many states have already shown some improvement.

These areas include Uttar Pradesh and Haryana, with specific industrial areas of Ghaziabad, Noida and Faridabad badly affected.

"State pollution control boards are at times found wanting," he said.

"But one does not expect such callousness from the body responsible for checking pollution in the capital."

According to the news sources, India's environment ministry did originally put a moratorium in place on any kind of industrial development in critically-polluted zones.

However, this has since been lifted from 26 zones in total after the pollution situation improved there.

It comes after the North Delhi Municipal Corporation issued notices to 96 separate industrial units and also closed down more than 50 that weren't adhering to pollution guidelines.