Mathura oil refinery is polluting Yamuna: experts

AGRA: A panel of environmentalists has blamed the release of petroleum waste from the Mathura oil refinery into the Yamuna for the death of fish in the river.

The Yamuna’s water was tested for pollutants after thousands of fish were found dead in the river on November 5, creating near panic among fishermen and those living close to the riverbanks in Mathura and Agra.

The death of the fish despite the fact that dissolved oxygen level was found to be normal persuaded environmentalists and government officials to look for other causes.

Releasing a report by a team of experts from the central and state pollution control boards and Agra public waterworks department Jansansthan, Agra district magistrate Mukesh Meshram on Wednesday said petroleum by-products were found in the Barari drain which flows from the Indian Oil Corporation’s oil refinery to the Yamuna. Large-scale growth of water hyacinth was also found in the river at the Gokul barrage in Mathura.

N Shiv Kumar, Mathura oil refinery’s corporate media manager, on Wednesday denied the charges that harmful pollutants were being released into the Yamuna. “All effluents and wastes are treated within the refinery before release,” he told reporters.

Earlier reports by several other organisations, including the US-based Yamuna Foundation for Blue Water, have also mentioned finding traces of petroleum hydrocarbons, which are believed to be carcinogenic, in the Yamuna water.

Local environmentalists say the pollution level in the Yamuna has crossed all safety parameters and the water is unfit for bathing, let alone drinking.