Trash skimmers, weed harvesters and dredge utility units were deployed on Sunday as part of the initiative to clean the Yamuna River, a project that gained attention in the lead-up to the Delhi Assembly elections.
The move follows a directive issued after a meeting between Delhi Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena and the Chief Secretary of the national capital. The Lieutenant Governor’s office outlined a ‘four-pronged strategy’ to address the pollution in the Yamuna.
According to the statement, the first phase of the plan focuses on removing trash, garbage and silt from the Yamuna River stream. Subsequently, cleaning operations will begin on the Najafgarh Drain, Supplementary Drain and other major drains feeding into the river.
The statement added that daily monitoring would be carried out on the existing sewage treatment plants (STPs), with a timeline set for constructing new STPs to meet the shortfall in processing approximately 400 MGD of sewer water.
A three-year timeline has been set for the river’s restoration, with emphasis on ensuring seamless coordination between various government agencies, including the DJB (Delhi Jal Board), I&FC (Irrigation and Flood Control Department ), MCD (Municipal Corporation of Delhi), Environment Department, PWD (Public Works Department) and DDA (Delhi Development Authority), the statement read further.
In addition, the Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) has been tasked with ensuring that industrial units do not discharge untreated effluent into the drains. Weekly progress monitoring will take place at the highest level.
During the lead-up to the polls, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) supremo and former Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal claimed that the Haryana government was mixing ‘poison in the Yamuna’ river.
The cleaning of the Yamuna is a promise that played a key role in the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) electoral campaign. Ahead of the Delhi polls, Prime Minister Narendra Modi pledged to make the Yamuna an integral part of Delhi’s identity, assuring that the task would be completed within the timeframe.
“I have pledged during the election campaign that we will make Yamuna ji the identity of Delhi. I know this is not very difficult. No matter how much time is taken, no matter how much energy is used, but if the resolve is strong, then blessings of Yamuna ji will remain with us,” said Modi after the BJP won the polls.
The restoration effort, which began in January 2023 under a mission mode approach initiated by the National Green Tribunal (NGT) under the leadership of L-G Saxena, aims to curb pollution levels.
However, the AAP government had previously challenged the NGT’s order in the Supreme Court, temporarily halting the restoration work.
Despite this, Union Minister Harsh Malhotra asserted the government’s commitment to completing the Yamuna cleaning efforts within the given timeframe, emphasising the urgency of reducing the pollution and waste in the river on Thursday.
“We have to implement the Ayushman Bharat scheme in Delhi. We will begin working on the Yamuna and finish the task within the given timeframe. Our priority is to bring the garbage mounds to ground zero,” said Malhotra.
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