Devotees take dip in toxic Yamuna on Chhath Puja

On the first day of Chhath Puja, devotees gathered at the Yamuna river to take a dip in the water that was covered with a thick layer of toxic foam near Kalindi Kunj on Monday morning, November 8. Videos and photos of toxic foam floating on the surface of the Yamuna near Kalindi Kunj have gone viral.

The formation of toxic foam in the Yamuna is not new. Every year, during the Chhath Puja, images of devotees standing in waist-deep toxic foam in the river grab the spotlight.

According to the reports, toxic foam is caused due to high ammonia levels and high phosphate content. Ammonia which is an indicator of pollution in the river was at around 2.2 ppm (parts per million) on Saturday and Sunday.

Notably, Chhath Puja is a festival dedicated to the Sun God and mainly observed by the people from Bihar, Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh. During the four-day festivities, devotees gather and take a holy dip in water bodies.

This year, the Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) has prohibited Chhath Puja on the banks of the Yamuna.

Earlier this year, the Delhi government sketched out a nine-point action plan to minimise frothing in the Yamuna due to the discharge of untreated sewage into the river.