Earth Science News
WATER WORLD
Dead rivers, flaming lakes: India's sewage failure
Dead rivers, flaming lakes: India's sewage failure
By Simon STURDEE
New Delhi (AFP) May 3, 2023

Mohammed Azhar holds his baby niece next to a storm drain full of plastic and stinking black sludge, testament to India's failure to treat nearly two-thirds of its urban sewage.

"We stay inside our homes. We fall sick if we go out," the 21-year-old told AFP in the Delhi neighbourhood of Seelampur, where open gutters packed with plastic and sickly greyish water flow alongside the narrow lanes.

"It stinks. It attracts mosquitoes. We catch diseases and the kids keep falling sick," he added. "There is no one to clean the filth."

India at the end of April was projected to have overtaken China as the world's most populous country, according to the United Nations, with almost 1.43 billion people.

Its urban population is predicted to explode in the coming decades, with over 270 million more people forecast to live in its cities by 2040.

But of the 72 billion litres of sewage currently generated in urban centres every day, 45 billion litres -- enough to fill 18,000 Olympic-sized swimming pools -- aren't treated, according to government figures for 2020-21.

India's sewerage system does not connect to about two-thirds of its urban homes, according to the National Faecal Sludge and Septage Management Alliance (NFSSM).

Many of the sewage treatment plants in operation don't comply with standards -- including 26 out of Delhi's 35 facilities, according to media reports.

Coupled with huge volumes of industrial effluent, the sewage is causing disease, polluting India's waterways, killing wildlife and seeping into groundwater.

- Ecologically dead -

Although India has made major progress in reducing child mortality, diarrhoea -- caused mostly by contaminated water and food -- remains a leading killer.

More than 55,000 children under five died of diarrhoea across India in 2019, according to a study published last year in the scientific journal BMC Public Health.

The Yamuna in Delhi is one of the world's filthiest rivers and is considered ecologically dead in places, although people still wash clothes and take ritual baths in it.

It often billows with white foam, and facilities processing drinking water from the river for Delhi's 20 million people regularly shut down because of dangerous ammonia levels.

Despite some bright spots, as well as efforts to plant more trees alongside rivers, the situation elsewhere is often no better in big cities including Mumbai and Chennai.

In Bengaluru, massive Bellandur Lake has on occasion caught fire when methane, generated by bacteria feasting on sewage in the oxygen-depleted water, ignited.

- 'Water crisis' -

Mridula Ramesh, author of a book about India's water woes who lives in a "nearly" net-zero-waste home, said properly treating sewage into useable water would help solve the crisis.

According to the World Bank, India is one of the most "water-stressed" countries in the world, with plummeting water tables and increasingly erratic monsoon rains.

Chennai nearly ran out of water briefly in 2019, and other cities may see similar calamities in the coming years due to excessive groundwater pumping and rainfall volatility.

"India is headed for a water crisis. Sewage can so easily be co-opted to fight that and help us to a very large extent solve the problem in our cities," Ramesh told AFP.

This could be achieved with decentralised treatment plants partially funded by the private sector or non-governmental organisations, with some of the fully treated sewage reused or released into local lakes.

"India's water is so seasonal. Many cities in India get 50 rain days... but sewage is available every day because you go to the bathroom every day... It's such a powerful weapon," she said.

For Khalil Ahmad, standing by the revolting open drain in Seelampur as flies buzz around, a solution can't come soon enough.

"Children keep falling sick... If they don't get treatment and medicine, the children will die," he told AFP.

Related Links
Water News - Science, Technology and Politics

Subscribe Free To Our Daily Newsletters
Tweet

RELATED CONTENT
The following news reports may link to other Space Media Network websites.
WATER WORLD
Solo rower launches Europe trek to expose river pollution
Warsaw (AFP) May 1, 2023
An intrepid French traveller embarked on Monday on a solo rowing expedition from Poland to France to shed light on the pollution of waterways of Europe. Christophe Gruault, 58, set off from Poland's capital Warsaw in a customised rowing boat six metres long and only 60 centimetres wide, with hopes to reach Paris on June 18. His intended route of 2,023 km will lead through five countries - Poland, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and France - and along 22 of the continent's rivers. "The ai ... read more

WATER WORLD
US troops ordered to Mexico border for migrant surge

In Brazil, a damaged city lives on edge of abyss

Death toll from China factory explosion rises to nine: state media

Canada police find bodies of two firefighters after floods

WATER WORLD
Deep-learning system explores materials' interiors from the outside

Heed the reed: thatcher scientist on mission to revive craft

Researchers 3D print a miniature vacuum pump

Researchers capture first atomic-scale images depicting early stages of particle accelerator film formation

WATER WORLD
Joint venture announced to build 'underwater space station of the ocean'

'Nightmare': Stinky seaweed smothers French Caribbean beaches

Dead rivers, flaming lakes: India's sewage failure

World should prepare for El Nino, new record temperatures: UN

WATER WORLD
CryoSat reveals ice loss from glaciers

West Antarctic Ice Sheet retreated far inland, re-advanced since last Ice Age

The future is foggy for Arctic shipping

Meltdown: 2023 looking grim for Swiss glaciers

WATER WORLD
World's tallest 'hemp hotel' trails South Africa's green credentials

Europe's produce at stake in Spain's water war

Study offers a new view of when and how governments distribute land

Insect farming startup Entoverse launches FarmGPT component

WATER WORLD
More than 1,000 evacuated as Guatemala volcano erupts

Magnitude 6.3 quake shakes central Japan: weather agency

Over 100 killed in Rwanda floods: state-run broadcaster

Two firefighters missing in Canada flooding

WATER WORLD
Rwanda counts cost after floods, landslides kill 130

The state of play: six months after Tigray peace deal

258 million needed urgent food aid in 2022: UN

Germany says to pull troops out of Mali by May 2024

WATER WORLD
Do people and monkeys see colors the same way?

India's new mums live in hope and fear for next generation

'A new history': Brazil's Lula decrees six Indigenous reserves

India to passes China as world's most populous nation: UN

Subscribe Free To Our Daily Newsletters




The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2024 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. All articles labeled "by Staff Writers" include reports supplied to Space Media Network by industry news wires, PR agencies, corporate press officers and the like. Such articles are individually curated and edited by Space Media Network staff on the basis of the report's information value to our industry and professional readership. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Statement Our advertisers use various cookies and the like to deliver the best ad banner available at one time. All network advertising suppliers have GDPR policies (Legitimate Interest) that conform with EU regulations for data collection. By using our websites you consent to cookie based advertising. If you do not agree with this then you must stop using the websites from May 25, 2018. Privacy Statement. Additional information can be found here at About Us.