New Delhi: Amid worsening air quality and rising political heat over pollution, the Delhi government on Thursday blamed the previous AAP-led administration for failing to carry out key pollution-control measures, saying the neglect has made the current challenge more difficult to address.
Delhi minister Parvesh Verma made the remarks during a press conference, presenting a list of unfinished tasks that he said should have been completed over the past decade.
“If the AAP government had even done half of these tasks, we would have had to do only the remaining ones. But they have not done even a single task in the last 11 years,” Verma said, accusing former chief minister Arvind Kejriwal of misleading the people of Delhi.
The list cited by the government included removal of garbage dumps, development of parks, repair of footpaths, e-waste and plastic waste management, road cleaning, sewage treatment, and rejuvenation of the Yamuna. Verma said pollution did not emerge overnight and was the result of years of inaction. “Our government has been in place for nine months. Since February 20, the Chief Minister and ministers have been out on Delhi’s roads, and the government has been successful in implementing its programmes,” he claimed.
The remarks came on a day when stricter anti-pollution curbs came into force in the capital. These include work-from-home arrangements for offices on a hybrid basis, restrictions on the entry of certain vehicles, and denial of fuel to vehicles without a valid Pollution Under Control certificate.
Addressing concerns over river pollution, Verma admitted that the Yamuna could not be fully cleaned in the immediate future and announced 2029 as the target for a comprehensive cleanup. “We have no plan for one year or two years. We will clean the Yamuna by 2029. This is our commitment to the people of Delhi,” he said, stressing that untreated sewage and polluted drains must first be stopped from flowing into the river.
“We will not allow any of Delhi’s pollution to flow into the Yamuna,” Verma added.
The statement marks a shift from the pre-election rhetoric, when the condition of the Yamuna emerged as a major political issue during the Delhi Assembly polls. Political parties had traded blame and promises over the river’s pollution, with missed deadlines and public dissatisfaction featuring prominently in campaign debates.
The government now faces increasing scrutiny over its handling of pollution, even as it announces new interventions. Earlier this week, it approved the deployment of 32 high-capacity cleaning machines, including two multipurpose dredgers imported from
Finland, to address pollution in major drains flowing into the Yamuna.