Delhi to build Yamuna huts where residents can celebrate birthdays, help clean river

The plan follows a campaign involving about 35,000 volunteers that removed 86.6 tonnes of waste from 70 riverfront ghats.

The Delhi government plans to set up “specialised huts” along the Yamuna riverbank where residents can celebrate birthdays while volunteering to clean the river’s ghats, water minister Parvesh Verma said on Monday, a day after a citywide cleanliness drive removed more than 86 tonnes of waste from the riverfront.

Parvesh Verma takes part in the cleanliness drive. (HT PRINT/HT PHOTO)

Verma said the initiative aims to build a stronger bond between residents and the river by encouraging people to combine personal celebrations with community service.

“We will create specialised huts where such events can take place. People can come and celebrate their birthday while spending some time with family volunteering for clean-up of the Yamuna ghats. When people bring their happiest moments to the river, they will never let it be dirty again,” he said.

The minister said he would lead by example by celebrating his birthday on the Yamuna ghats on November 7.

On Sunday, around 35,000 volunteers participated in a one-day cleanliness campaign along the Yamuna floodplains on October 18, clearing 86,600kg of waste from 70 riverfront ghats across Delhi, Verma said.

Addressing a press conference on Monday, he said the participants included 20,000 workers from various non-governmental organisations, 10,500 Bharatiya Janata Party members and students from 27 Delhi University colleges.

The drive cleared 76,755kg of dry waste, including plastic bags and religious offerings, along with 9,850kg of green waste and water hyacinth, he said. More than 250 Public Works Department maintenance vans, hundreds of Municipal Corporation of Delhi vehicles and specialised weed harvesters were deployed for the operation.

The 22km stretch of the Yamuna between Wazirabad and Okhla accounts for only around 2% of the river’s length but contributes substantially to its pollution load. Twenty-two major drains discharge into the river along this stretch.

Launch on October 22

Verma said Union home minister Amit Shah would launch or lay the foundation stones for river-cleaning projects, including 10 inauguration projects ( ₹2,827.11 crore) and 33 foundation stones ( ₹6,114.11 crore), worth ₹8,941 crore near Urban Extension Road-2 in west Delhi on October 22. The projects include sewage treatment plants (STPs) to be built by the Delhi Jal Board, household sewer connections for lakhs of homes and expansion of the city’s sewer network. Verma said 29 decentralised sewage treatment plants, stalled for years, would also move forward after hurdles related to land were resolved.