The National Observance of World Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTD) Day 2025 featured India Gate as an awareness-raising landmark that used purple and orange illumination to discuss Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs). The communal effort together with government policy achievements demonstrated India's success in controlling Lymphatic Filariasis and Visceral Leishmaniasis, which affect over 1.7 Billion people globally, it is often neglected in global discussions despite affecting several people and causing severe health issues.

What are Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs)?

Definition

The group of infectious diseases named NTDs mostly targets poor communities existing within tropical and subtropical locations. These diseases remain outside the scope of most international health plans and receive inadequate funding support.

Prevalence:

NTDs exist as a global health problem that impacts more than 1.7 billion people specifically within areas with restricted healthcare access including low-income nations.

Types of NTDs

• Some common NTDs include:

  • The parasitic infection Lymphatic Filariasis brings about severe leg swelling which produces permanent disability for patients.

  • The deadly infection of Visceral Leishmaniasis attacks the internal body organs with the main impact on the spleen and liver.

  • Other diseases like Schistosomiasis, Trachoma, Guinea Worm Disease, and Soil-transmitted helminths.

Impact of NTDs

Due to their nature NTDs bring about extreme disability and permanent health disabilities and damaging physical deformities. NTDs cause affected individuals to experience social exclusion which worsens due to stigma.

Neglect:

NTDs receive minor attention from global health institutions so they qualify as neglected diseases even though they affect numerous populations. NTDs remain hidden beneath the international health schedule due to more prominent diseases taking precedence.

Solutions for NTDs

• Mass Drug Administration (MDA):

  • NTD reduction through mass treatment programs becomes possible when medication is offered to all community members residing in areas with high risk.

• Community Engagement:

  • The success of NTD control programs depends on public participation since community members need proper education for disease prevention methods and available treatments.

• Improved Sanitation:

  • Sanitation and hygiene improvement measures stop numerous NTDs from spreading since they reduce soil contamination which acts as an NTD transmission mechanism.

India's Progress in Eliminating NTDs

• Substantial progress regarding negligent tropical diseases has occurred in India, especially after its successful elimination of Lymphatic Filariasis and Visceral Leishmaniasis.

• Human involvement as well as government programs through mass medication have enabled India to reduce these diseases substantially.

Conclusion

The celebration of World NTD Day 2025 brought attention to how institutions still fight against neglected tropical diseases. The nighttime illumination of India Gate with purple and orange light demonstrated India's resolve to spread awareness and solve the health and social problems resulting from NTDs. With community engagement, policy actions, and improved healthcare systems India is making progress toward eliminating these diseases and making progress of better health in the nation.

The conflict over Yamuna river water escalated when Delhi's CM Arvind Kejriwal blamed the Haryana government under BJP rule for polluting the Yamuna with ammonia substances that threatened Delhi's water source. The river water quality and environment suffer damage due to ammonia that enters from industrial plants and sewage treatment centers. Water treatment facilities in Delhi face difficulties treating excessive amounts of ammonia which results in water supply problems throughout the city. Temporary measures that boost chlorine use in the water supply exist but the problem requires a long-term solution involving both Delhi and Haryana to establish a permanent facility and forge better cooperative practices for maintaining a constant water supply.

About Ammonia Pollution

What is Ammonia?

• The odorless colorless gas known as ammonia maintains wide usage throughout industries together with agricultural practices. Water easily dissolves this substance so it appears in industrial wastewater together with agricultural runoff and untreated wastewater produced by domestic sources. The natural occurrence of ammonia takes place when organic materials degrade.

• The presence of ammonia within water systems creates two major health ramifications and deteriorates water supply quality.

• A high level of ammonia exposure leads to painful harm of internal organs. The presence of ammonia in the Yamuna water stream decreases oxygen content in the water which creates harmful conditions for aquatic life to exist. The rise of ammonia concentrations within water sources produces adverse effects on water treatment operations and degrades water quality which results in population-wide water shortages throughout Delhi's urban districts.

• The presence of ammonia creates negative effects on the drinking water supply system in Delhi.

Source of Pollution

Industrial pollution along with sewage discharges within Panipat and Sonipat districts creates conditions that let ammonia enter the Yamuna River while degrading its quality until it reaches Delhi. The water pollution worsens during winter because low freshwater flow makes the situation more critical.

Challenges for Water Treatment

The treatment facilities in Delhi experience difficulties when processing water with ammonia contamination. The water treatment plants use chlorine as a means to eliminate ammonia yet their ability to do so stops at 1 ppm (parts per million). The water treatment process suffers when ammonia concentrations surpass its safe capacity point which results in disrupted water supply.

Government Responses and Challenges

• Temporary Measures:

  • For each ppm of ammonical nitrogen, the water treatment facilities in Delhi must operate 11.5 kilograms of excess chlorine events per liter throughout an hour. The temporary approach proves futile when ammonia exceeds the 1 ppm concentration threshold.

• Proposed Solutions:

  • The local government in Delhi aims to construct a treatment facility for ammonia which will operate at Wazirabad on the Yamuna River. Construction of the proposed site has not been finalized at Wazirabad for in-situ ammonia treatment on the Yamuna River in 2024. 

Political and Environmental Effects

• The water pollution crisis continues to generate political tensions because Arvind Kejriwal holds the Haryana government responsible for neglecting the ammonia pollution issue.

• The two states held numerous meetings yet failed to discover any permanent solution that caused water scarcity while making political relationships worse.

About Yamuna River

• Tributary of Ganga: The Yamuna River serves as the largest connecting tributary extending from the Ganges River.

• Origin: Its source point is the Yamunotri Glacier which exists at 4,421 meters above sea level in the elevated Himalayas.

• Length: The Yamuna River runs 1,376 kilometers along Uttarakhand then Uttar Pradesh and Haryana before it meets the Ganges at Prayagraj.

• Flow of Yamuna: The river begins its path in Uttarakhand by flowing through mountainous regions before entering Uttar Pradesh and then Haryana while crossing Delhi. The river supplies water through three important canal passages including the Western and Eastern Yamuna canals as well as the Agra Canal.

• Confluence: At the sacred Hindu location of Prayagraj the Yamuna stream merges with the Ganges before flowing into each other.

• Tributaries of Yamuna: The Yamuna River accepts tributary waters from the Tons, Chambal, Hindon, Sarda, Giri, Betwa and Sindh rivers.

Conclusion

Delhi suffers critical environmental problems alongside divisive political circumstances when managing its water resources because of Yamuna ammonia pollution. Short-term chlorine treatment methods help mitigate current conditions but lasting changes to water facilities together with active state collaboration must occur to provide long-term safety for Delhi residents. The water crisis in Delhi will persist because effective solutions have not been found to address this problem.