Yamuna to be cleaned in three years time: Top Delhi official

PrashantNews

It was a near-miracle when the much-polluted Yamuna in Delhi became visibly cleaner during the corona virus lockdown in 2020. Several videos of the clean water flowing in Yamuna had also gone viral.

The lockdown had done what the successive governments could not achieve in decades. It happened largely because the industrial and other activities had come to a halt at that time.

But again Yamuna became polluted. According to an estimate, the industrial waste of nearly 300 units is released into Yamuna between Haryana’s Panipat and Delhi alone which contribute 20-30 percent of the pollution, experts said. The rest of the pollutants come from local Delhi sewage and scores of big and small drains in Delhi, they say.

Now after the years of neglect, the change of government in Delhi has brought a new ray of hope for Yamuna. A clean-Yamuna drive is underway in the national capital to fulfill Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s poll promise.

Under the four-pronged strategy, media reports quoting LG office in Delhi claimed that Yamuna would be cleaned in three years time. Trash skimmers, weed harvesters have been deployed in the river as part of the tardy cleanup process. According to the plan, the trash, garbage and silt in the Yamuna will be removed and simultaneously cleaning operation will begin in the Najafgarh and other drains. The 57 km long Najafgarh drain is the biggest polluter of Yamuna in Delhi.

Cleaning of the Yamuna was a key poll plank of the BJP with the Prime Minister Modi making a loud announcement during the recent assembly elections that brought the BJP to power after 27 years.

Interestingly, the NGT in 20223 had constituted a high-level committee under the Lt Governor to rejuvenate Yamuna. Some work had started also. But later, this order was stayed by the Supreme Court. “The Yamuna will be cleaned in three years time. We are confident that the work for cleaning Yamuna will be completed before Dec, 2027,” said Additional Chief Secretary Delhi Navin Kumar Choudhary.