India, Sept. 30 -- Water quality in the Yamuna touched its cleanest levels since 2013 in Delhi this September, according to the latest monthly report from the Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC). Experts attributed the rare improvement to the river being in spate during recent flooding, which flushed out pollutants and diluted sewage.

Records of Yamuna monitoring have been available since 2013, and the September data stands out as the most dramatic improvement yet. To be sure, this is the first time that sampling was done in the middle of a high-flood spell. In 2023, when Delhi hit its highest-ever Yamuna level of 208.66 metres on July 11, sampling was conducted earlier that month, before the peak.

On September 3, when the river ra...