Yamuna Scandal: This is the tale of every year. Chhath devotees would be clicked standing amidst thick clouds of toxic foam while conducting the rituals. A debate would begin about the cleanliness of the Yamuna river. Delhi would blame—it would be apt to say the Aam Aadmi Party leaders would blame the states of Uttar Pradesh and Haryana, and there would be no solution. However, this year the issue of the Yamuna is back in the headlines before the Chhath Mahaparv, all credits to the Aam Aadmi Party and its alleged Yamuna Scandal.
Over Rs 6,800 crore was spent on cleaning the Yamuna
In a recent reply to a question asked in the Delhi assembly, the Environment Department of the Delhi government revealed that it has spent over Rs 6,800 crore in the last five years, between 2017 and 2021, on cleaning the Delhi stretch of the Yamuna river.
What is shocking is not the expenditure, but the results derived from the same. As per reports from the Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC), most of this stretch still remains polluted. The DPCC’s report released in the month of February stated that the stretch is not fit for bathing and faecal coliform (microbes from human and animal excreta) were present in the river water above a desirable level. The situation is similar across Delhi except for Palla, where the river enters Delhi.
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Delhi’s government’s mismanagement leaves people to suffer
While the report has triggered a political slugfest, the Delhites are left on their own as the water woes continue. Water supplies in several areas have been affected due to high levels of ammonia found in the water. As per the Delhi Jal Board (DJB), the level of ammonia in the river at Wazirabad in Delhi was more than 8 ppm (parts per million).
This is more than the 1 ppm that the DJB’s water treatment plants can process, and production at the Wazirabad and Chandrawal water treatment plants has been curtailed by 25 percent to 50 percent. A week earlier, the DJP had issued a similar warning.
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Scandal: Political slugfest over the Yamuna river
The Bhartiya Janata Party has gone all guns blazing against the ruling AAP government, alleging that the water supply body, Delhi Jal Board, has gone bankrupt under the Kejriwal government. The reason for the allegations is that the debt of the Delhi Jal Board has soared to Rs 71,000 crore.
Cleaning the Yamuna has been the most-spoken and least-worked project of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, and all that the government has been doing is releasing raw water into the Yamuna river, thinking it would flush out the polluted water from the river. However, no efforts have been put into digging out a long-term solution to the persistent crisis.
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