New Delhi plunged into extreme pollution

Hindu worshipers worship the sun god in the polluted waters of the Yamuna River, during the Hindu religious festival of Chhath Puja, on a smoggy morning in New Delhi, November 8, 2024. ANUSHREE FADNAVIS / REUTERS Shortly before sunset , thousands of devotees flocked to the Yamuna, the sacred river which crosses the Indian capital: women draped in ceremonial saris and men loaded with enormous baskets overflowing with offerings, bananas, candles, flowers, incense and sugar cane sticks. Thursday, November 7 marked the celebrations of Chhath Puja, a major Hindu festival of the Purvanchali community, originating from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, during which women, after a total fast of thirty-six hours, immerse themselves in the sacred river to pray to the sun god Surya. But in front of the banks of the Yamuna, devotees found nets preventing access to the river and dozens of police officers deployed to direct devotees to a specially designed pool. The day before the celebrations, the Delhi High Court had refused to lift an order of the disaster management authority, dated October 29, 2021, which bans Chhath Puja rituals – prayers, offerings to the rising and setting sun in the Yamuna – because of its excessive pollution. For several days, its waters have been nothing more than a thick mass of white foam, formed by toxic discharges. The Delhi government claims to have reserved 1,000 secure locations to celebrate the ceremony. Despite this system and calls for caution from the courts, pilgrims in several places in the capital managed to reach the Yamuna and plunge into the pestilential cesspool. The judges had, however, implored the faithful not to bathe. “You need to understand that you are going to get sick!” », warned one of the magistrates. Layers of toxic foam The Yamuna, which has its source in the Yamunotri glacier, in Uttarakhand, in the Himalayan massif, and crosses seven states to flow into the Ganges in Uttar Pradesh, is the one of the most polluted rivers in the world. It carries heavy metals, arsenic, chemicals and other fecal matter. Delhi discharges millions of liters of wastewater every day into the Yamuna, largely untreated, to which are added industrial effluents, causing the presence of detergents and phosphate compounds which cause the formation of layers of toxic scum on the surface. Hindu worshipers worship the sun god in the polluted waters of the Yamuna River during the Hindu religious festival of Chhath Puja, on a smoggy morning in New Delhi, November 8, 2024. ANUSHREE FADNAVIS / REUTERS A woman washes her hair in the Yamuna River, polluted by layers of toxic scum, in New Delhi, November 5, 2024. ANUSHREE FADNAVIS / REUTERS The sun god, on Thursday, was hidden under a thick fog of fine particles. For a week, the Indian capital and the entire north of the country, up to Pakistan, have plunged into extreme pollution. The air quality index (AQI), around 400, reaches levels considered very dangerous for health. Hospitals are seeing residents arriving out of breath. You have 50.91% of this article left to read. The rest is reserved for subscribers.



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