CM Rekha Gupta promises a froth-free Yamuna for Chhath Puja, highlighting rapid cleanup efforts and BJP’s commitment to river rejuvenation in Delhi.
Delhi chief minister Rekha Gupta reassured Delhi residents Tuesday that froth from pollution over the Yamuna surface will not be visible during the approaching Chhath celebration, reinforcing the Bharatiya Janata Party’s election pledge to have a clean river. The Chhath festival will take place over four days, starting on October 25 and ending on October 28.
She claimed that rapid progress is being made to revitalize the river.
After Diwali, pollution in Delhi’s Yamuna River peaks when sewage and industrial effluent spill into the river, causing it to become frothy white. Diwali is being observed on October 20 this year.
In previous years, opposition parties like the BJP and environmental activists had criticized the city’s then-AAP leadership over pictures of people celebrating Chhath standing in froth-filled water.
Is the Yamuna clean before Chhath?
With the upgrading of existing sewage treatment plants (STPs), the tendering of new ones, and the drone mapping of drains to tap their untreated discharge, the chief minister also announced an amnesty scheme on pending water bills at the Delhi Secretariat, indicating that work on cleaning and rejuvenation was proceeding quickly.
I’m hoping the government will eventually make the Yamuna river clean again,” she remarked.
The Chhath festival would be celebrated in style following Diwali this year, according to Gupta, whose administration took office in February of this year when the BJP defeated the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in Delhi after more than a decade.
“The Water Minister and Delhi Jal Board are putting forth a lot of effort. Delhi residents won’t see any froth on the Yamuna, I promise,” she remarked.
Along both sides of the Yamuna River and in various locations throughout the city, the BJP government has organized a lavish Chhath festival.
Chhath Celebrations on the Banks of the Yamuna
The Chhath celebration will be celebrated in 1,000 places throughout Delhi, including the banks of the Yamuna River. According to officials, the government has instructed relevant ministries to guarantee safety, water sprinkling, cleanliness, and better traffic control at all locations.
To guarantee clean water for the ceremonies, the irrigation department has been entrusted with clearing the Yamuna of water hyacinth, they added.
Yamuna poll plank
In the lead-up to this year’s Assembly elections, the cleanliness of the Yamuna was one of the areas of contention between Arvind Kejriwal’s Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the BJP, the saffron party. The BJP pledged to clean up the Yamuna in three years, and both parties included a cleaning campaign in their manifestos.
The BJP’s Parvesh Verma even submerged Kejriwal’s cutout in the river prior to the election, and the AAP once claimed that the nearby Haryana government had contaminated the river.
Also read: Delhi CM Rekha Gupta celebrates Karwa Chauth at home, sends heartfelt wishes to all women.
Cities are constructed around rivers, but the Yamuna in this area is so contaminated that Delhi residents are unable to approach it. Delhi may use the Yamuna’s water for drinking if it can be cleansed, but the AAP-led administration has done nothing about it for the past eleven years. Don’t vote for me, Kejriwal had said, if I don’t clean the Yamuna. How is he now trying to get votes? The Delhi government spent ₹8,000 crore on cleaning the Yamuna, but no one knows what happened to that money,” Verma said.