Delhi: Thousands of religious Hindus, sweeping up toxic scum, ignored court warnings on Thursday against bathing in the sacred, sewage-filled Yamuna river, a grim display of environmental degradation in the Indian capital.
Thousands celebrated the Chhath Puja festival of the Hindu sun god Surya, entering the fetid waters to pray as the sun set in the sky.
A parliamentary report in February described the Yamuna as “more of a toxic waterway than a river,” saying the clouds of foam were formed from a potent chemical soup that included laundry detergent and phosphates from fertilisers.
Indian media reported that an order from the Supreme Court came on Wednesday, “Please understand that you will get sick,” restricting bathing rituals for health reasons. “We can’t let you go into the water.”
But housewife Krishnawati Devi, 45, said she was not worried.
“I believe the river water is pure and blessed by the sun god himself,” she said. “Nothing will happen to me, God will take care of everything.”
The Hindu faithful ignored the order, and women dressed in luxurious saris and heavy jewelry waded through the gray waters.
White foam was swirling around their feet. In some places, it was so thick that it looked like the river had frozen over.
“Chath is a festival of unwavering faith,” said Avinash Kumar, 58, a government employee.
“We can also pray at home but it is not like praying in the river.”
Others beat drums and sang.
‘toxicity’
The New Delhi authorities resorted to using anti-foaming agents to disperse the foam, and used nets to remove the scum, but they did nothing to clean the fetid water itself.
“It stinks, but that’s okay,” said Deepa Kumari, a 14-year-old student. “The important thing is that we celebrate in the river with our people.”
The rituals in the days-long festival culminate at dawn on Friday.
“I don’t care about pollution,” said Pooja Prasad, 20, a student.
“The Mother Goddess will take care of all our problems,” she added.
The sprawling city of about 30 million people is also choked by toxic smog – fueled by burning crop fields and car exhaust fumes.
Levels of fine particulate matter — dangerous fine particles known as PM2.5 pollutants that enter the bloodstream through the lungs — rose this week to more than 50 times the daily maximum recommended by the World Health Organization.
“Toxy City,” the announcers called the capital.
‘abomination’
The city authorities announced repeated efforts to clean the river.
From a glacial source of a glacier in the Himalayas, the Yamuna feeds into the mighty Ganges, flowing more than 3,100 kilometers to the sea in the Bay of Bengal.
But just 400 kilometers into that journey, the waters passing New Delhi were already dead.
The parliamentary report warned of the “excessive presence of heavy metals” and cancer-causing pollutants ranging from arsenic to zinc, and from everything from batteries to pesticides.
“Pollution… turned it into a carrier of untreated industrial waste, garbage, agricultural wastewater, and municipal waste,” the report stated.
“This has a profound impact on people’s well-being.”
Government statistics say 80 percent of the pollution load is from raw sewage, far exceeding permissible levels for bathing.
Some believers drink the water traditionally.
Levels fluctuate, but in one place in 2021 in south Delhi, fecal bacteria levels exceeded the maximum of health regulations by 8,800 times.
But many say they are frustrated with the situation.
“The river is sacred to us, but all the filth from the nearby industrial belt is being pumped into it,” Kumar added.
“Every year they say they will clean it, but nothing ever happens.”