New Delhi, February 16 Prime Minister Narendra Modi had promised to clean the Yamuna river during the Delhi Assembly elections. After the victory of the BJP, work on this has started even before the formation of the government. On Sunday, modern machines like trash skimmer, weed harvester and dredge utility craft were used to clean the Yamuna river in the capital Delhi.
Delhi Lieutenant Governor V.K. Saxena met the Chief Secretary and Additional Chief Secretary (Irrigation and Flood Control) on Saturday and asked them to start work immediately.
Releasing a video related to the cleaning of the Yamuna river, the Lieutenant Governor’s office said that the work of cleaning the Yamuna river has started. Yamuna is being cleaned through machines like skimmer and dredge utility craft to lift garbage, remove weeds and remove other dirt.
A four-point strategy has been made for cleaning the Yamuna river. First of all, the garbage, litter and silt deposited in the Yamuna water will be removed. At the same time, the work of cleaning Najafgarh drain, supplementary drain and all other major drains will also start. In the third strategy, the capacity and production of existing sewage treatment plants (STP) will be monitored daily. At the same time, under the fourth strategy, a time-bound plan has been prepared for the construction of new STPs and DSTPs, so that the actual shortage of about 400 MGD of dirty water can be met.
The implementation of this ambitious plan will require seamless coordination between various agencies and departments, including Delhi Jal Board, Irrigation and Flood Control, Delhi Municipal Corporation, Environment Department, PWD and DDA. These works will be monitored at a high level on a weekly basis.
The Delhi Pollution Control Committee has been directed to ensure that the industrial units of the city do not release dirty water into the drains. This step has been taken as part of the revival efforts of Yamuna river, so that the quality of the river water can be improved and pollution can be controlled.
The work of Yamuna revival was started in mission mode in January 2023, when the National Green Tribunal constituted a high-level committee headed by Lieutenant Governor Vinay Kumar Saxena. The objective of this committee is to control the pollution of the river and take concrete steps to clean it. The committee has ordered to ensure that industrial units located in Delhi do not release any kind of dirty water or polluted water into the drains.
After five meetings of the high-level committee, which closely monitored the cleaning work, the then AAP government led by Arvind Kejriwal approached the Supreme Court. After this, then CJI DY Chandrachud stayed the NGT order. After this, the work of Yamuna revival stopped again and the COD/BOD level, which had started improving slightly month after month, became worse. Pollution reached record levels earlier this year.
