Where the Yamuna still has signs of life

In this series, HT takes a look at the complicated relationship that the Capital shares with the Yamuna as it journeys through the city

- Jasjeev Gandhiok and Paras Singh

At Wazirabad, the river offers the final fleeting glance of signs of life. Fishermen search for their daily catch; devotees take dips, and people can even be seen kayaking.

NEW DELHI: In the Yamuna's 50km journey through Delhi, Wazirabad marks one of its most pivotal junctures. Here, the river retains a semblance of life, still waging a losing battle against the toxic load of sewage and industrial waste that will soon turn it into a lifeless drain.

The scene at Wazirabad - though a far cry from the pristine strawberry fields in upstream Palla that we wrote about in the first part of this series - is the last vision of the revered Yamuna as a sacred lifeline. Dozens of fishermen row their rickety wooden boats into the water, skillfully throwing their nets in search of the day's catch. On the riverbanks, families gather at ancient ghats, offering prayers, taking ritual dips, and even sipping the water as part of sacred Hindu rites. Across the river, young men and women practice rowing and kayaking, their synchronised strokes slicing through the water in perfect rhythm, in Delhi's few remaining boating clubs.

But this fragile balance is fleeting.

Just a few hundred metres downstream, the river takes a catastrophic turn. The Najafgarh drain, which carries nearly 70% of Delhi's pollution load, merges with the Yamuna, unleashing an avalanche of sewage, industrial chemicals, and solid waste. Within minutes, the river's blue morphs into a murky black, its oxygen levels plummeting to zero, rendering it incapable of supporting any form of life.

That's where the Yamuna becomes a "dead river".

Final moments of life