Abstract: Water quality degradation is a serious and rapidly growing problem
in expanding cities of India where unprecedented and unplanned urbanization
accompanied by rapid industrial development are the major causal factors.
Delhi, the capital city of India, is facing the problem of water pollution
since the last few decades. In the present study different physico-chemical and
biological parameters (i.e. COD, BOD, DO, TKN, AMM, WT, TC and FC) of water are
analysed to assess the changing quality of water over the period of twelve
years (1995–2006) and to evaluate the impact of Yamuna Action Plans on
water quality. With the help of time series analysis method changing trend of
pollutants is estimated, and value for the future is also calculated. The
primary data collected are from 1896 households to examine the relationship
between outdoor and indoor pollution levels. The analysis reveals that despite
the implementation of Yamuna Action Plan I and II, the pollutants are well
above the standard limit set by Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB). For the
mitigation and management of this problem in the sustainable urban development
perspectives certain relevant measures are also suggested.
Keywords: Delhi, pollution, urbanization, CPCB, Yamuna Action Plan
