Thousands of people gathered along a sacred river in the Indian capital on Wednesday, to celebrate a Hindu festival, only to find it filled with toxic white foam.
Devotees still performed dipping rituals and frolicked in the froth, despite Delhi authorities banning gatherings on the Yamuna – one of the most revered rivers for Hindus, but also the most polluted – over pandemic fears.
They were there to celebrate Chhath Puja, a three-day festival that comes after Diwali.
The festival is popular in eastern Bihar state and involves women fasting and offering prayers to a sun deity while standing knee-deep in the river on the last day.
Many devotees found themselves surrounded by mounds of white foam blamed on the city’s sewage waste and industrial effluent.
Videos and photos posted on social media showed women and children wading through dark-coloured river water and merrily tossing the foam around with their hands.
Experts blame hundreds of small factories and the city’s largely untreated sewage for the froth that covers the section of the river in the region after the monsoon season.
The 1,370-kilometre river is a tributary of the Ganges. It originates from the Himalayan Uttarakhand state and flows through Delhi, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh.
Much of the pollution is caused by wastewater discharged by garment-dyeing industries, toxic effluent from factories and untreated sewage from households in Delhi, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh.
Delhi dumps about 720 million gallons of wastewater into the river while Uttar Pradesh about 155 million gallons of untreated sewage every day.
The appalling scenes at the festival prompted safety concerns from health experts, environmentalists and triggered an embarrassingly last-ditch attempt clean-up drive by the government.
More than 15 boats equipped with large sheets of cloth were seen pushing the foam away from the banks while workers sprinkled freshwater from using pipes to dissolve it.
Dozens of bamboo barricades were also erected to keep the foam away from the banks as scores of policemen made unsuccessful attempts to drive away the believers.
The upsetting scenes also triggered a political slugfest between the Arvind Kejriwal-led Delhi government and members of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party.
Successive governments have announced plans to clean and revive the river in their poll promises, including Mr Kejriwal’s administration that in 2020 pledged to reduce Yamuna’s pollution levels by 90 per cent by 2023.
What sanctions would be reimposed?
Under ‘snapback’, measures imposed on Iran by the UN Security Council in six resolutions would be restored, including:
- An arms embargo
- A ban on uranium enrichment and reprocessing
- A ban on launches and other activities with ballistic missiles capable of delivering nuclear weapons, as well as ballistic missile technology transfer and technical assistance
- A targeted global asset freeze and travel ban on Iranian individuals and entities
- Authorisation for countries to inspect Iran Air Cargo and Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines cargoes for banned goods
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Dubai works towards better air quality by 2021
Dubai is on a mission to record good air quality for 90 per cent of the year – up from 86 per cent annually today – by 2021.
The municipality plans to have seven mobile air-monitoring stations by 2020 to capture more accurate data in hourly and daily trends of pollution.
These will be on the Palm Jumeirah, Al Qusais, Muhaisnah, Rashidiyah, Al Wasl, Al Quoz and Dubai Investment Park.
“It will allow real-time responding for emergency cases,” said Khaldoon Al Daraji, first environment safety officer at the municipality.
“We’re in a good position except for the cases that are out of our hands, such as sandstorms.
“Sandstorms are our main concern because the UAE is just a receiver.
“The hotspots are Iran, Saudi Arabia and southern Iraq, but we’re working hard with the region to reduce the cycle of sandstorm generation.”
Mr Al Daraji said monitoring as it stood covered 47 per cent of Dubai.
There are 12 fixed stations in the emirate, but Dubai also receives information from monitors belonging to other entities.
“There are 25 stations in total,” Mr Al Daraji said.
“We added new technology and equipment used for the first time for the detection of heavy metals.
“A hundred parameters can be detected but we want to expand it to make sure that the data captured can allow a baseline study in some areas to ensure they are well positioned.”
Racecard
5pm: Al Maha Stables – Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 (Turf) 1,600m
5.30pm: Wathba Stallions Cup – Maiden (PA) Dh70,000 (T) 1,600m
6pm: Emirates Fillies Classic – Prestige (PA) Dh100,000 (T) 1,600m
6.30pm: Emirates Colts Classic – Prestige (PA) Dh100,000 (T) 1,600m
7pm: The President’s Cup – Group 1 (PA) Dh2,500,000 (T) 2,200m
7.30pm: The President’s Cup – Listed (TB) Dh380,000 (T) 1,400m
The biog
Name: Sarah Al Senaani
Age: 35
Martial status: Married with three children - aged 8, 6 and 2
Education: Masters of arts in cultural communication and tourism
Favourite movie: Captain Corelli’s Mandolin
Favourite hobbies: Art and horseback ridding
Occupation: Communication specialist at a government agency and the owner of Atelier
Favourite cuisine: Definitely Emirati - harees is my favourite dish
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What is a calorie?
A food calorie, or kilocalorie, is a measure of nutritional energy generated from what is consumed.
One calorie, is the amount of heat needed to raise the temperature of 1 kilogram of water by 1°C.
A kilocalorie represents a 1,000 true calories of energy.
Energy density figures are often quoted as calories per serving, with one gram of fat in food containing nine calories, and a gram of protein or carbohydrate providing about four.
Alcohol contains about seven calories a gram.
BIGGEST CYBER SECURITY INCIDENTS IN RECENT TIMES
SolarWinds supply chain attack: Came to light in December 2020 but had taken root for several months, compromising major tech companies, governments and its entities
Microsoft Exchange server exploitation: March 2021; attackers used a vulnerability to steal emails
Kaseya attack: July 2021; ransomware hit perpetrated REvil, resulting in severe downtime for more than 1,000 companies
Log4j breach: December 2021; attackers exploited the Java-written code to inflitrate businesses and governments
What vitamins do we know are beneficial for living in the UAE
Vitamin D: Highly relevant in the UAE due to limited sun exposure; supports bone health, immunity and mood.
Vitamin B12: Important for nerve health and energy production, especially for vegetarians, vegans and individuals with absorption issues.
Iron: Useful only when deficiency or anaemia is confirmed; helps reduce fatigue and support immunity.
Omega-3 (EPA/DHA): Supports heart health and reduces inflammation, especially for those who consume little fish.
