After receiving severe criticism over the state of Yamuna river during the recent Chhath Puja celebrations, Delhi Cheif Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday announced 6 action points to clean the toxic waters of the river.
Stating that the work to clean up the river has began on 'war-footing' the Chief Minister said that his government has come up with 6 action points, which is being personally monitored by him.
"It took 70 years for river Yamuna to become this dirty, it can't be cleaned within 2 days. I had promised people in these Delhi polls that it would be cleaned by next polls. We've started work on war-footing. We have 6 action points over it, I'm personally monitoring it," he said.
Explaining point-by-point, Kejriwal said the action plan will focus of working on sewer plants and its treatment, "In the first action plan, we are working on sewer treatment on war-footing. First, new sewer treatment plants are being built. Second, the capacity of existing plants is being increased, Third, the technology of old treatment plants is being changed," he said.
Further enlightening about the plan, Kejriwal informed "waste from Jhuggi Jhopri clusters that goes into rivers will now be merged into sewers."
For fifth and sixth point, Kejriwal talked about installing sewer connections at nominal charges in areas where people do not have sewer connections, along with desilting and rehabilitation of sewers.
The action plan comes after the Delhi government made several face saving attempts following sharp criticism from opposition and residents of the city during the Chhath Puja celebrations. The government had deployed 15 boats in River Yamuna to remove froth at Kalindi Kunj with civic agencies installing bamboo nets and sprinkling water to dissipate froth -- a sign of the river's hazardous water quality.
The announcement of the 6 action points comes at a time when the Delhi government is already grappling with issues of worsening air quality in the city after Diwali.
With Agency Inputs
