India, Nov. 12 -- New Delhi

In the run-up to Chhath Puja scheduled from November 13 to 16, Delhi is yet to get additional freshwater from the Hathnikund barrage in Haryana-as was done last year to improve the ecological flow (e-flow) of the Yamuna and wash away pollutants. The water release over the past week has remained at 9.97 cumecs, which is insufficient to improve e-flow and much lower than the peak of 225 cumecs released last year, experts pointed out.

Environmental flow, or e-flow, refers to the minimum flow of water required in a river to sustain its ecological health. The Yamuna in Delhi has long fallen short of this benchmark. Experts argue that the 10 cumecs currently allocated to Delhi is grossly insufficient, while the qua...