‘No froth in Yamuna’: Delhi CM Rekha Gupta's big promise for Chhath festival

Images of womenfolk celebrating Chhath in froth-laden water in the past years had drawn flak from opposition parties and environmentalists.

Underlining the Bharatiya Janata Party's poll promise of having a clean Yamuna river, Delhi chief minister Rekha Gupta on Tuesday assured the people of Delhi that froth caused by pollution over the Yamuna surface will not be seen during the upcoming Chhath festival. The four-day-long Chhath festival will begin on October 25 and will conclude on October 28.

New Delhi, India - Oct. 12, 2025: People offering Yamuna Aarti over the clear sky on the bank of Yamuna river at Chhath Ghat near ITO in New Delhi, India, on Sunday, October 12, 2025. (Photo by Arvind Yadav/ Hindustan Times) (Hindustan Times)

She asserted that fast-paced work is underway for the rejuvenation of the river.

Pollution in Delhi's Yamuna river peaks after Diwali as it gets laced with white froth due to the discharge of sewage and industrial effluent in the river. This year, Diwali is being celebrated on October 20.

Images of people celebrating Chhath standing in froth-laden water in the past years had drawn flak for the city's then AAP government from opposition parties such as the BJP and environmental activists.

Clean Yamuna before Chhath?

Also announcing an amnesty scheme on pending water bills at the Delhi Secretariat, the chief minister said work on cleaning and rejuvenation was going on with speed with the upgrading of existing sewage treatment plants (STPs), tendering of new ones and drone mapping of drains to tap their untreated discharge.

Gupta, whose government came to power in February this year with the BJP unseating the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) from Delhi after over 10 years, said that the people of Delhi will witness a grand celebration of the Chhath festival after Diwali this time.

"The Delhi Jal Board and Water Minister are working hard. I can assure that Delhi people will not see any froth on the Yamuna," she said.

The BJP government has planned a grand celebration of Chhath along both banks of the Yamuna River and other places in the city.

Chhath along Yamuna

Yamuna riverbanks are among 1,000 locations across Delhi where Chhath festival will be celebrated. Officials said the government has directed concerned departments to ensure cleanliness, water sprinkling, safety and improved traffic management at all sites.

The irrigation department has been tasked with removing water hyacinth from the Yamuna to ensure clean water for the rituals, they added.

Yamuna poll plank

Cleanliness of Yamuna was one of the flashpoints between Arvind Kejriwal's Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the BJP as the saffron party in the run up to Assembly elections early this year. Both parties had Yamuna cleaning drive on their respective manifestos with BJP promising a clean Yamuna within three years.

At one point, AAP accused the neighbouring Haryana government of poisoning the river, while BJP's Parvesh Verma even immersed Kejriwal's cut-out in the river before the polls.

“Cities are built around rivers but the Yamuna here is so polluted that the people of Delhi can’t even go near it. If the water of the Yamuna can be cleaned Delhi can use it for drinking water supply, but the AAP-led government did nothing in the last 11 years. Kejriwal had said that if I don’t clean the Yamuna, don’t vote for me. So, how is he seeking votes now? Nobody knows what happened with ₹8,000 crore of funds that the Delhi government spent on cleaning the Yamuna,” Verma said.