Delhi Minister of Irrigation and Flood Control Parvesh Verma inspected the Yamuna by boat on Wednesday and said 1,300 tonnes of garbage have been removed from the river in the past 10 days.

Cleaning the Yamuna was one of the key promises made by the BJP for the recently-concluded Delhi Assembly polls.

“In 2023, Delhi faced a flood. Previously, all the floodgates were closed, but now they have been repaired and raised to prevent future flooding,” Mr Verma said.

“Our biggest commitment is to completely clean and restore the Yamuna. As of now, 1,300 metric tonnes of garbage have been removed in the last 10 days. The Delhi Development Authority will restore the riverbed and encroachments are being removed,” the minister said.

He also said sewage treatment plants (STPs) will be installed for the 18 major drains that discharge effluents into the river.

“Complaints will be addressed, new STPs will be set up and the capacity of existing ones will be increased. All STPs are expected to be installed within two years,” Mr Verma said.

He claimed that in the past decade, no significant work had been done to clean the river, “not even on paper”.

“It never even occurred to the previous government to work for the Yamuna. But now, not only the Delhi government but the PMO itself is involved,” Mr Verma added. 

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