Could it be that Delhi's clean-up infrastructure is an effect of mindlessness? Consider: while it is broadly accepted that domestic sewage contributes between 80-90 per cent of the pollution load, and industrial effluents the rest, nobody has any clue on how much waste is industrial and how much domestic. So what is all the infrastructure for?

In the Mailee Yamuna case, Supreme Court judges were annoyed enough to note in their August 2004 order that "There is nothing authentic on the record as to what is the total generation of different kinds of pollutants. The capacity of the 15 sewage treatment plants in Delhi is also not known, though it was stated in the affidavit of the chief secretary that in November 2001, the capacity was 1,990.80 million litres daily (mld), to be increased by March 2005 to 3,318.30 mld.'

The judges also note: "The chief engineer of Delhi Jal Board (djb) present in court states that the total capacity as of now is 2,305.8 mld. According to him, the total generation is 2,934 mld. We do not know the correctness of these figures. Assuming the same to be correct, the generation of waste is more than the total capacity of the stp s. Despite these facts and figures