News Brief
Yogi Adityanath Says Delhi’s Yamuna Would Be Clean Only If Arvind Kejriwal Had The Strong Resolve To Do It
The polluted Yamuna River in Delhi. (Sushil Kumar/Hindustan Times via Getty Images)
Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath has said that Yamuna in Delhi would be as clean as Ganga if Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had a strong resolve to do it.
Adityanath was speaking at the flagging off ceremony of the five-day Ganga Yatra yesterday.
NDTV website quoted Adityanath as saying: “The Ganga, which earlier was no better than a polluted '’naala’' is now clean and healthy at and beyond Kanpur...One requires a strong resolve to find a solution to such problems. Only if Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had a strong resolve, the Yamuna in Delhi would be as clean as the Ganga.”
The serious pollution of Yamuna came into limelight last year during the Chhath Pooja celebrations.
Photographs of the polluted river became viral on social media, where many people from outside Delhi became aware of the alarming levels of pollution, perhaps, for the first time.
In these photographs, devotees were seen standing knee-deep in toxic foam of the river.
The Bharatiya Janata Party-led government at the Centre has been at the forefront of the mission to clean Ganga. The Ganga Yatra, which Adityanath flagged off yesterday, comes under the Namami Gange mission. The purpose of the Yatra is to accelerate economic prosperity.
On Ganga remaining clean, Adityanath added: “It is the responsibility of each one of us to ensure that the Ganga remains clean. We must stop throwing garbage in the river. We must also ensure that no other pollutant is released into the river.”
It has been pointed out that Yamuna is polluted even beyond Delhi, as explained in this article in Down to Earth magazine.
Its being one of the most polluted rivers is a serious concern to the health of the citizens living here and the matter has been raised by environmentalists over the decades.
Earlier this month, Kejriwal, as per this report, asked people at a public meeting “Do you think we should clean Yamuna?”
He has promised to clean the river during the next five years.
Floating toxic foam on Yamuna's surface is a common sight in Delhi's Kalindi Kunj area every year. With Delhi battling air pollution, the toxicity of Yamuna becomes part of the grave crisis.
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