Current World Environment

Rivers in northern India are increasingly threatened by urban expansion, industrial activity, and insufficient wastewater treatment. The Yamuna River, a vital Ganga tributary, suffers chronic degradation, yet its upstream stretches in Haryana are comparatively understudied. This study conducts a five-year (2019–2023) spatiotemporal assessment of water quality across 14 stations in Haryana, encompassing both the Yamuna and key tributaries. A comprehensive suite of physicochemical and microbial indicators were monitored seasonally using standardized protocols. This study offers the first multi-year, basin-scale insight into upstream Yamuna pollution dynamics, revealing critical early warning signals for downstream ecological risk. Multivariate analyses, including ANOVA, Pearson correlation, and principal component analysis (PCA), were applied to identify pollution patterns and seasonal variability. Results reveal frequent exceedances of CPCB Class B thresholds: over 85% of BOD values surpassed 3 mg/L, with critical hotspots at Khojkipur and Palwal; faecal coliform counts reached 600,000 MPN/100 mL; and DO fell below 5 mg/L in 43% of samples. Strong inverse relationships were found between BOD and DO (r = –0.72), while PCA showed organic and microbial pollution as dominant drivers of variability. This study provides the first comprehensive, multi-year spatiotemporal assessment of water quality in the upstream segment of the Yamuna River in Haryana, filling a critical gap in existing research and offering new insights into pollution patterns before the river reaches Delhi. The integration of robust statistical methods with long-term field observations provides a scientifically rigorous basis for targeted policy and infrastructure interventions. Findings emphasize the urgent need for decentralized wastewater treatment, enhanced seasonal monitoring, and coordinated basin-level governance. Overall, the Yamuna’s ecological condition deteriorates significantly within Haryana before entering the Delhi segment.

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