India, Jan. 27 -- A thick, glacier-like layer of toxic white froth has once again covered stretches of the Yamuna near Kalindi Kunj amid falling temperatures as wind-driven clouds of foam roll across the river surface while devotees pray along its banks.

The phenomenon has intensified during winters despite Delhi Jal Board using a record quantity of defoaming chemicals between October and December, highlighting the continued ecological decline of the river, they added.

Environmentalists said low temperatures help stabilise froth bubbles, but stressed that foaming is only a symptom of deeper pollution. "The attempts of defoaming were only trying to treat the symptoms. Reality is the river water is extremely polluted and ecologically dead...