Click to play videoNew Delhi: The water from the river Yamuna may not be potable as reports indicate the presence of a deadly chemical called Ammonia in it, thereby making it unfit for human consumption.
The reports suggest that the levels of Ammonia have shot up to 5 PPM which is much more than the permissible limit.
Ammonia is a harmful chemical which mainly affects human kidneys and lungs.
High levels of Ammonia in human body can cause damage to teeth, weaken bones and lead to gastrointestinal problems. It can also cause nervous retardation and malabsorption of nutrients.
According to Centre for Science and Environment, "The water supply that we get is first purified and then supplied. However, the problem is that our systems can only purify the water if the ammonia levels are between 0.2 and 0.4 mg, not more than that. "
However, presence of chemicals is not the only problem with the water in Delhi.
A recent CNN IBN investigation had reported that water in other major cities like Chennai, Kolkata and Mumbai is also contaminated, not just with Ammonia but with deadly microbial bacteria.
In Delhi, some samples showed high levels of the disease causing coliform bacteria.
In Chennai, coliform bacteria and E.coli pathogen, responsible for several water-borne diseases, were present in most samples. Chennai water also showed high iron contamination.
42 per cent of the samples from Kolkata recorded hardness, and some showed unsafe levels of coliform bacteria.
Mumbai water fared best, with chemical and microbial contamination within acceptable limits.
The more the quantity of Ammonia the more the amount of Chlorine it requires to clean up the water which in turn could react with the organic matter in the river to produce carcinogenic substances.
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