Ghaziabad: Deposits of silt, garbage choke Hindon river

Ghaziabad: Huge sludge along with silt and leftover puja material have deposited in Hindon River near the GT Road stretch in Ghaziabad, bringing in large-scale contamination to the already polluted river.

Officials said that the deposits have come in from the upstream areas, and were also aided by nine untreated drains in Ghaziabad.

During a visit, an HT team found highly contaminated and stinking silt, emanating a foul smell, along with huge deposits of garbage and puja leftovers, deposited on the river banks along the Chhath Ghats on the river banks below the GT Road overbridge towards the Hindon barrage near Vasundhara.

Officials of the UP irrigation department said the river water and its quality are not maintained by them, and the municipal corporation area has many untreated drains flowing into the river.

“We are managing the barrage area, and the gates are generally opened to cause the outflow of water in the Hindon canal. The sludge/silt is an issue that is to be taken up by the municipal corporation and the UP Jal Nigam,” said Dheeraj Verma, sub-divisional officer, UP irrigation department (Okhla).

Official figures of the UP irrigation department indicate that the river already faces high pollution level. The data of the board indicate that dissolved oxygen (DO) levels in the river ranged from 1.43 to 4.22 mg/litre between January and December in 2024.

A minimum DO level of 4 mg/litre (mg/l) is required for the survival of aquatic life, said officials.

Likewise, the total coliform ranged from 260,000 most probable number (mpn)/100ml to 380,000 mpn/100ml in 2024. Officials said the readings are quite high, as the standard limit for total coliform is 1,000 mpn/100ml.

Vikas Mishra, Uttar Pradesh Pollution Control Board (UPPCB) regional officer in Ghaziabad, did not respond to calls for his response.

“The river falls under the lowest category ‘E’ in terms of water quality, and the high levels of total coliform are due to the inflow of household sewage,” said Utsav Sharma, regional officer of UPPCB.

The category ‘E’ indicates that the water is used only for irrigation, industrial cooling, and controlled waste disposal, said officials.

Environmentalists said that the water contamination in the river has persisted for almost 15-20 years.

“The sewage inflow, untreated drains, and industrial effluents are the reasons that have brought in a deposit of thick sludge into the river, and this will further deteriorate its water quality. For years now, there have been plans that were readied on paper to clean the river, but on the ground, there is hardly any effort visible,” said Sushil Raghav, a city-based environmentalist.

The river that starts from Saharanpur, flows for about 55km in Ghaziabad district.

Civic officials said that of the 55km stretch, the municipal corporation has about 6-7km of area in its jurisdiction, and the sludge probably came in from upstream areas.

“There are nine drains that flow into the river, and only two of these are treated ones at present. For four of these, the Jal Nigam has prepared a feasibility report for a project of about ₹450 crore. Work is being done for three other drains. Once these projects get approved, the work will start. A desludging project, prepared about two years ago, for about ₹38 crore was also in the pipeline,” said municipal commissioner Vikramaditya Malik.