Yamuna River

Delhi minister Saurabh Bharadwaj on Sunday accused Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena of claiming credit for the work done by the city government to clean the Yamuna river. Earlier in the day, Saxena visited the supplementary drain in Wazirabad and said, "We are not working for credit but to give clean Yamuna to the people." Following his remark, Bharadwaj alleged that Saxena did not have the constitutional power to allocate money for projects and only the Delhi government could do that. Addressing a press conference, the minister also shared a list of various initiatives taken by the Delhi government to clean the Yamuna. "His job is not to visit drains but various police stations that come under him. There are 350 police stations in Delhi. He should visit them. But he visits drains where work is going on and claims credit for the work being done by the government," he said. "Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has never raised the issue but this has been happening," Bharadwaj added.

The Delhi government have decided to set up an ammonia removal plant to treat polluted Yamuna water coming from Haryana

DDA in its meeting chaired by Lt Governor VK Saxena, took major decisions, including approval of Annual Budget 2023-24, with focus on civic infrastructure of the national capital

Water supply in parts of Delhi will be hit with high ammonia levels in the Yamuna leading to a 50 per cent decrease in production at Wazirabad and Chandrawal water treatment plants, the DJB said on Tuesday. The WTPs at Chandrawal and Wazirabad can treat up to 90 MGD and 135 MGD of water, respectively. The ammonia level at the Wazirabad pond is 5 parts per million at present. According to the Bureau of Indian Standards, the acceptable maximum limit of ammonia in drinking water is 0.5 ppm. At present, the Delhi Jal Board has the capacity to treat 0.9 ppm. "Due to high levels of pollutants (ammonia more than 5 ppm) being received in the Yamuna at Wazirabad pond, water production has been curtailed by 10 per cent to 50 per cent from WTPs of Wazirabad and Chandrawal. "Therefore, water supply will be available at low pressure from Tuesday evening till the situation improves," the DJB said in a statement. The areas which will be affected are: Civil lines, Hindu Rao Hospital and adjoinin

About 10,000 children from schools, colleges and universities and common residents of the city participated in the plantation program

Themed "neat and clean Delhi", the annual budget of the Arvind Kejriwal government will focus on cleaning of Yamuna and removing three mountains of garbage from landfill sites in the city, official sources said on Saturday. In the budget 2023-24, to be tabled in the ongoing session of the Assembly, Delhi government will lay out a plan to beautify and modernise the city's infrastructure, they said. With a focus on rejuvenating the heavily polluted Yamuna, the government will increase the quantity of sewage being treated in Delhi to 890 mgd next year. The sewage treatment capacity in the city was 370 mgd in 2015. The number of colonies with sewer connection will almost be doubled from 747 to 1,317. The scheme of free household sewer connections will continue, they said. Delhi government with Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) will pool in resources to get rid of the three garbage mountains, the city's "shame", in the next two years, sources added.

Delhi Jal Board Vice-Chairman Saurabh Bhardwaj inspected the Wazirabad Water Treatment Plant (WTP) on Tuesday as the water level in the Yamuna River continues to fall

The National Green Tribunal has said the "huge gap" in the generation and treatment of sewage in the Yamuna catchment area in Haryana needed to be remedied on a war footing. It also noted that the water quality of the Yamuna river deteriorated after it entered the national capital and that the existing gaps in sewage management here needed to be "duly considered and addressed". Noting that the state of Uttar Pradesh did not submit a report regarding the Yamuna pollution, the tribunal said it was a matter of "serious regret". The tribunal was hearing matters pertaining to remedial action against "unabated pollution" of the Yamuna and the authorities' alleged failure to tackle the same to the detriment of the rule of law, environment and public health in spite of specific orders on the subject passed by the Supreme Court and the tribunal. A bench led by NGT Chairperson Justice A K Goel noted the report submitted by the state of Haryana stated that there was a gap of 240 million litre

An intensive operation to clean the Yamuna floodplains, involving territorial army personnel, will be launched by Delhi Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena on Thursday, the Raj Niwas said in a statement. A 94-member company of the territorial army will be drafted to ensure ground level enforcement and monitoring of all untrapped drains and sub-drains that pollute the river, it said. The Lt Governor heads a high-level committee constituted by the National Green Tribunal (NGT) in January to oversee implementation of its orders with regard to cleaning of the Yamuna.

The Delhi Assembly on Thursday approved a supplementary grant of Rs 1,028 crore for the Delhi Jal Board and to speed up work for cleaning the Yamuna.

BJP MLAs on Wednesday held a protest outside the Delhi Assembly over the issue of pollution in Yamuna river. Carrying bottles filled with ''heavily polluted" Yamuna water, the BJP leaders said they will raise the issue inside the House. Leader of Opposition in the Delhi Assembly Ramvir Singh Bidhuri said supply of dirty water from Yamuna was harming the health of the people. "It is causing cancer and damaging kidney and liver as well as leading to other ailments. The Modi government has provided the AAP government Rs 2,500 crore for cleaning Yamuna," he said. "We want to ask Delhi Chief Minister Kejriwal where did this money go because a report of his own government has said that Yamuna has been polluted 200 per cent more in the eight years of AAP rule," he said. Bidhuri said the issue will be raised in the Assembly and if it is not debated upon, they will stage further protests over the issue. "A notice has been given for a debate over the issue. If the government runs away from

The DPCC and the DJB gave a presentation to Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena on pollution in the river on Saturday

The National Green Tribunal on Monday formed a high-level committee to deal with the issue of pollution in Yamuna river. A bench comprising its chairperson Justice A K Goel said substantial work remains unexecuted in terms of identified steps for the rejuvenation of Yamuna, and there is still a huge gap between the generation of sewage and available treatment facilities. The bench also comprising judicial members Justice Sudhir Agarwal and Justice Arun Kumar Tyagi along with expert members A Senthil Vel and Afroz Ahmad said the earlier directions of the tribunal regarding pollution of river Yamuna were not complied with. "The estimated gap is said to be 194.5 million gallons per day (MGD) of sewage, interception and diversion of about 147 drains (connected to Najafgarh and Shahdra drains) and other small drains joining bigger drains remains (pending) and wastewater from 1,799 unauthorized colonies and 630 JJ clusters is reportedly going into the Yamuna," the bench said. Other ...

The Haryana government has prepared an action plan to control pollution in all the 11 major drains that discharge treated or untreated effluent into the Yamuna river, the state assembly was informed here on Wednesday. "Due to the control of pollution in these drains, the polluted water will not fall into the Yamuna river, from which the Agra and Gurugram canals emerge," Transport Minister Mool Chand Sharma said. He said this in response to a calling attention motion regarding polluted water in Agra and Gurugram canals. Sharma informed the House that the Haryana government has constituted a committee in this regard. The MLAs of Gurugram, Mewat, Faridabad and Palwal districts were made its members and member secretary, Haryana State Pollution Control Board, as Member Convener, the house was informed. Additional Chief Secretary, Environment, and Principal Secretary, Irrigation, have also been nominated as members. Five meetings of this committee have been held, he said. The ministe

Water supply in parts of Delhi has been affected due to ammonia pollution in the Yamuna river, the Delhi Jal Board said on Tuesday. Operations at Wazirabad, Chandrawal, Bawana, Nangloi, Dwarka and Haiderpur water treatment plants (WTPs) have been hit. Water supply will remain affected till the situation improves, it said. Water will be available at low pressure in parts of south Delhi, central Delhi, west Delhi, northwest Delhi and southwest Delhi, the DJB said. According to the Bureau of Indian Standards, the acceptable maximum limit of ammonia in drinking water is 0.5 ppm. At present, the DJB can treat up to 0.9 ppm.

As the Delhi government has promised to clean the Yamuna to bathing standards by 2025, the pollution load in the river has increased substantially over the last five years, according to a report by the environment department. The report shows that barring Palla, the annual average level of biological oxygen demand (BOD) increased at every location of water sample collection for testing in the national capital. BOD, an important parameter for assessing water quality, is the amount of oxygen required by aerobic microorganisms to decompose organic material present in a water body. BOD levels less than 3 milligram per litre (mg/l) is considered good. There was no immediate reaction available from the environment department. The Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) collects river water samples at Palla, where the Yamuna enters Delhi; Wazirabad, ISBT bridge, ITO bridge, Nizamuddin bridge, Agra Canal at Okhla Barrage, Okhla Barrage and Asgarpur. The DPCC data showed while there has b

The BJP on Wednesday accused Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal of "doing nothing" to clean the Yamuna river or control air pollution in the city despite making promises elections after elections. BJP spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia claimed that the chief minister failed to clean the Yamuna despite governing the national capital for the last eight years, adding that the Centre and the Delhi L-G managed to clean a 3-km stretch of the river in just three-and-a-half months. "Kejriwal had visited South Korea's Seoul in December 2018 to learn how a polluted river was cleaned there. What did he learn there that despite 50 months, Yamuna's all important parameters, including biochemical oxygen demand, dissolved oxygen and fecal coliform, are much above the permissible limit?" he asked. The Yamuna has permissible limit of fecal coliform bacteria when it enters the city which rises to over 6.5 lakh/100 ml as the river leaves the city, he said. "This over 1,200 per cent more fecal coliform ...

The BJP on Wednesday attacked Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal for his "inaction" on the Yamuna cleaning and air pollution fronts despite "making promises" before every election. Despite being Delhi chief minister for 8 years Kejriwal has failed to clean the Yamuna while with the efforts of the Centre and Delhi LG , a 3 Km stretch of the river has now been cleaned in just 3.5 months, BJP spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia here said. The Yamuna has permissible limit of fecal coliform bacteria when it enters the city which rises to over 6.5 lakh/ 100 ml as the river leaves the city, he said. "This over 1,200 per cent more fecal coliform bacteria than the permissible limit of 2,500 per 100 ml endangers health of people in Delhi and also shows inaction of Kejriwal government," Bhatia said. The BJP leader also accused Kejriwal of "doing nothing" to clean Yamuna or control air pollution in the city despite making promises in AAP's manifestos elections after elections.

Delhi Jal Board (DJB) Vice Chairman Saurabh Bhardwaj on Thursday said it is "absolutely incorrect" to say that a "poisonous" chemical is being used to suppress the foam in the Yamuna, following the BJP's allegations over the issue. BJP MP Manoj Tiwari accused the Delhi government on Thursday of spraying a poisonous chemical to remove froth from the Yamuna ahead of Chhath Puja, during which devotees take a holy dip in the river. Slamming the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) over its allegations into the DJB's Yamuna-cleaning exercise, Bhardwaj said, "BJP leaders should learn something about science and technology. The DJB's anti-foaming chemical technology has also been recommended by the Centre's NMCG." The DJB had started preparations to reduce foaming in the Yamuna more than a month ago so that Chhath devotees could offer prayers to the Sun god, he said. "Later, the National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) also recommended similar steps as adopted by the DJB to contain foaming in the

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday said the BJP should not try to divert attention from the garbage issue amid allegations that the Delhi government is spraying poisonous chemicals to remove froth in Yamuna ahead of Chhath Puja. BJP MP Manoj Tiwari on Thursday accused the Delhi government of spraying poisonous chemical to remove froth from the Yamuna ahead of Chhath Puja during which devotees take a holy dip in the river. "The people of Delhi have given us five years to clean the Yamuna. The Municipal Corporation of Delhi polls will be an election of Delhi's cleanliness and garbage. The BJP should not deviate from the issue. They should give an account of their 15 years," he said in a tweet in Hindi. West Delhi MP Parvesh Sahib Singh Verma also challenged Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal to take a dip in the Yamuna and alleged that the AAP chief's visit to Ghazipur landfill site was a ploy to divert attention from the issue of pollution in the river.