Barely three weeks after Chhath Puja concluded, vast stretches of the Yamuna near Kalindi Kunj and ITO have once again turned into a floating sea of thick, toxic white foam, marking the return of one of Delhi’s most visible and persistent environmental failures. Photographs and videos from Monday morning showed the river surface almost entirely covered in froth several feet high in places, with the chemical-laden bubbles drifting menacingly toward bridges and embankments.

Authorities responded by deploying multiple motorboats to churn the water aggressively, creating artificial currents to push the foam downstream and temporarily clear key stretches. Residents living along the riverbank confirmed that teams also sprayed defoaming chemicals directly into the water, a practice routinely employed before festivals, VIP visits, or high-profile events. Despite these efforts, the foam rapidly re-formed, exposing the superficial nature of such interventions and highlighting the unchecked inflow of pollutants that sustain the crisis year after year.

The Delhi Pollution Control Committee’s latest monthly data paints a grim scientific picture: faecal coliform levels at the ISBT bridge skyrocketed from 3,500 MPN/100ml in September to 21,000 MPN/100ml in October, while biochemical oxygen demand surged from 13 mg/l to 37 mg/l, far exceeding the safe limit of 3 mg/l. Dissolved oxygen, essential for any aquatic life, plummeted to zero by the time the river exits Delhi, confirming that the Yamuna remains biologically lifeless for much of its journey through the capital. The Najafgarh drain and smaller tributaries continue to discharge massive volumes of untreated domestic sewage and industrial effluents, combining with residual festival waste and detergent phosphates to generate the persistent foam.

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Decomposing floral offerings, plastic waste, and food remnants left along the ghats after Chhath have further accelerated organic loading, providing additional fuel for bacterial growth and surfactant reactions that produce the toxic froth. Environmentalists warn that inhaling air near the foam can cause respiratory irritation and skin allergies, while prolonged exposure poses serious health risks, especially for the thousands of devotees who will return to the riverbanks for future festivals.

The issue swiftly escalated into a political storm on Monday when senior Aam Aadmi Party leaders visited Kalindi Kunj, recorded fresh footage of the foam-covered river, and accused the BJP-led central government of abandoning all serious cleaning efforts immediately after the Bihar assembly elections. Senior AAP spokesperson Saurabh Bharadwaj declared that the sudden reappearance of the foam proved the much-publicised Yamuna rejuvenation campaigns were nothing more than electoral drama, reigniting the bitter blame game between Delhi’s ruling party and the Centre over who bears responsibility for the river’s continuing degradation.

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