New Delhi:
Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta and her ministers, hours after taking oath, made a beeline for Yamuna at Vasudev Ghat, where they are participating in the river “aarti” -inspired by the daily evening ceremony at the ghats of Ganga at Haridwar and Varanasi. The gesture – apart from being a political message of the party’s comeback after 26 years — was also a reaffirmation of the BJP’s promise to clean up the river that was once the lifeblood of the centuries-old city but is now little more than a drain.
“We will fulfil all the promises that we have made… At 5 PM, we will go to Yamuna Ghat for aarti. The cabinet meeting will be held at 7 pm,” the Chief Minister had said while assuming charge at the Delhi Secretariat and meeting officials and leaders.
Ahead of the assembly polls, the BJP promised a clean Yamuna in three years. The promise was reinforced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the victory celebrations of the party. PM Modi had promised to make Yamuna “The identity of Delhi.”
“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,” he had said in his victory speech.
In its election manifesto, the “Viksit Bharat Sankalp Patra”, the BJP had said it would set up a “Yamuna Kosh” for the revitalisation and the riverfront development project.
For now, the four-fold plan for the clear-up announced by the Lieutenant Governor’s office involves the removal of trash and silt from the river and the drains — including the Najafgarh drain that contributes the most to the pollution — expanding the sewage treatment capacity to 1,000 million gallons per day and common effluent treatment plant capacity to 220 MLD.
The LG had also promised regular monitoring not only for the industrial units but also the sewage and waste water treatment plants.
The work started on Sunday, four days ahead of the Chief Minister’s oath ceremony. Officials from the Lieutenant Governor’s Office said trans and silt removal has started with skimmers, weed harvesters and a dredger.
The BJP came to power in Delhi after 28 years in the assembly election held earlier this month, winning 48 of the 70 assembly seats. Apart from the corruption allegations against Arvind Kejriwal’s Aam Aadmi Party, civic issues – the condition of the Yamuna, air pollution and AAP’s failure to clean up the city despite having control of the civic body – played a huge part in the BJP victory.
The Yamuna pollution issue was the eleventh-hour addition to the campaign, with Arvind Kejriwal’s allegation that the BJP government Haryana is “poisoning” the river water.
The BJP and the Congress lost no time in pointing out that AAP has failed to deliver on its promise to clean up the river, despite spending Rs 6000-plus crore over the last five years.
