Delhi LG, AAP spar over polluted Yamuna

The LG took to social media platform X and shared some viral images of the polluted river covered entirely in white foam

With river Yamuna’s Kalindi Kunj stretch covered with layers of froth ahead of Chhath Puja early next month, the polluted waters of the Yamuna is emerging as a latest flashpoint between the AAP-led Delhi government and the lieutenant governor (LG) VK Saxena.

A polluted stretch of the Yamuna in Delhi on Monday. (Sunil Ghosh/HT Photo)

Aiming an indirect barb at the Delhi government, the LG took to social media platform X and shared some viral images of the polluted river covered entirely in white foam.

He posted on X in Hindi: “Yamuna, which has been the lifeline of Delhi since eternity, becomes more important during the great festival of Chhath. This is the condition of Yamuna, the pain of Delhi’s people. It is unbearable to see it. Who is responsible for such a plight? Who had claimed to clean the Yamuna and announced to take a dip in it? Who got the Yamuna revival work, started last year on the orders of NGT, stopped by the court?”

Saxena’s post was making veiled references to statements made by AAP leader and former chief minister Arvind Kejriwal who had promised the citizenry that Yamuna would be cleaned before the 2025 Delhi election and he would take a dip in the river. In May 2023, the Aam Admi Party had moved Supreme Court against the NGT orders to constitute LG-headed high-level committees and the order was stayed in July.

Hitting back, the AAP said that the BJP was stooping to desperate tactics, sharing outdated photos from 2015. “The BJP knows that they can’t compete with AAP’s honest governance, and this dirty politics only exposes their insecurity and their underhanded attempts to sabotage Delhi’s progress. Posting old pictures to defame and discredit AAP are old ploys of the BJP but AAP shall continue to work for the citizens of Delhi,” said an AAP spokesperson.

Delhi Congress chief Devender Yadav on Monday visited Kalindi Kunj to take stock of the pollution and said the river’s water has become more polluted than ever, and added that devotees will be forced to stand in the murky and frothy water during Chhath puja on November 7. “Thousands of mothers and sisters would be forced to enter the polluted Yamuna during the Chhath Puja on November 7 by risking their health. I challenge Arvind Kejriwal to take a dip in the Yamuna as he had promised that he would do by 2025,” Yadav said.

Delhi BJP chief Virendra Sachdeva said the river’s water is clean when it enters Delhi from Haryana’s Palla, but becomes oxygen-deprived and contaminated by the time it reaches Kalindi Kunj. This pollution, he claimed, is due to untreated sewage and toxic industrial waste being discharged into the river. He said the foamy Yamuna reflects its dire state, caused by untreated waste from 18 major and 32 minor drains flowing directly into it. A report from IITK estimates that 2 billion litres of untreated water, filled with surfactants and filamentous bacteria, are discharged into the Yamuna daily.

To be sure, the froth formation at Kalindi Kunj is caused by soap-like surfactant molecules in the river water, when the water falls from a height at the Okhla barrage. This leads to churning of the polluted water, as well as increased frothing, according to experts, who said the forth is a clear indication of the poor river water quality.

Earlier on Sunday, chief minister Atishi had blamed BJP led governments of neighbouring states for dumping untreated effluents into drains that empty into the Yamuna. “We don’t want to make allegations but Haryana and Uttar Pradesh are adding untreated effluents to Yamuna. Around Chhath, the gates of Agra canal area closed, which leads to untreated waste reaching Yamuna,” she had said.

Chhath is celebrated between November 5 and 8 every year and involves fasting devotees offering prayers to the Sun god, while standing in knee-deep water. Scenes of Chhath devotees standing in the polluted frothy waters of the Yamuna near Kalindi Kunj give rise to widespread public outrage every year. The blame game over foam formation too has become an annual feature. Last year, Delhi Jal Board deployed 10 boats for defoaming the waters around Kalindi Kunj and Okhla barrage ahead of Chhath.