Will clean Yamuna before '25 elections and take a dip: CM Kejriwal unveils 6-point plan

Update: 2021-11-18 19:49 GMT

New Delhi: The Delhi government has prepared a 6-point action plan to change the face of the Yamuna River with Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal promising to take a dip in the river himself before the next elections in 2025. The government will also connect each and every household to the sewer networks which will no longer require an application or approval.

"We have also reduced the charges significantly and whatever nominal charges would be there for the connection, will be adjusted with your monthly bills," Kejriwal said.

Cleaning and restoring the Yamuna river is one of the top priorities of the Government as it plans to "gift" the clean Yamuna to the people before the next elections, a senior AAP official told Millennium Post.

The CM will be reviewing the progress made in achieving the target every 15 to 30 days, the Delhi government said, with the CM adding, "The damage done in 70 years cannot be undone in just two days. I had made a promise that I will clean the Yamuna (in Delhi) by the next assembly polls and will take a dip in it along with all of you."

The government has been building new Sewage Treatment Plants and simultaneously it has been increasing the capacity of the existing STPs along with new technology to make sure pollutants do not fall in the Yamuna, an official from Delhi Jal Board added.

The government's current capacity is to treat 600 MGD if all plants are working at 100 per cent but the Capital expels 850MGD sewer that needs to be treated.

The government has initiated the construction of new sewer treatment plants like Coronation Plant, Okhla Treatment Plant, Kondli Treatment Plant, Rithala Treatment Plant and more and increased the capacity of existing treatment plants.

Adoption of new technologies treatment plants as the current outdated mechanisms roll out polluted sewage even after treatment is also part of the action plan. "We will ensure a 10:10 ratio of output after treatment," CM Kejriwal said.

The CM talked about the in-situ treatment of major drains and said that work has started to clean out Najafgarh, Barapullah, Supplementary and Ghazipur Drains. He also said that all industrial waste will be diverted to CETPs and whichever industry fails to comply will be shut down.

"On paper, industrial waste gets treated before being disposed of, but in reality, there's not much substance to it.

Whichever industry is found to be not sending its waste to the treatment plants will be shut immediately by the authorities, there will be no compromises with it," the chief minister announced at a presser on Thursday.

He said that the drainage system of JJ clusters will be connected to the larger sewer network to completely stop stormwater drains from being polluted. The Jhuggi-Jhopri Clusters rely on Jan Suvidha or Public Convenience Complexes and at several locations, the drainage connections of the complexes are connected to the stormwater drains instead of the sewer system.

"Stormwater drains are meant to carry rainwater runoff and not sewage. We will change this system," CM said, adding that the entire sewer network is being desilted and rehabilitated to ensure that it functions to the best of its capabilities.

However, the BJP and Congress slammed Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday over his six-point action plan to clean the Yamuna, saying the river was heavily polluted despite his repeated promises.

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