Taking Yamuna to its Pristine Glory! Jal Shakti Ministry Carries Out Cleanathon in Delhi

News Bharati    28-Jun-2019
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New Delhi, June 28: “22 kilometres of Yamuna stretch in Delhi contains more than 90 per cent of the pollution load and we are sounding helpless to clean the same. The cleaning of river Ganga and her tributaries would be taken up in a mission mode,” said Union Minister for Jal Shakti Gajendra Singh Shekhawat today. The Minister took part in a Cleanathon event of Namami Gange at the Kalindi Kunj Ghat near Okhla Barrage today morning. 

 
The Cleanathon was carried out at eight Ghats in Delhi. “Government could only be a catalyst, but to realize the dream and vision of Prime Minister – ‘Aviral Dhara’, ‘Nirmal Dhara’, and ‘Swachh Kinara’, the Cleanathon project should become a mass movement. The government is working on the project by adopting the Basin Approach, which is more sustainable,” said Shekhawat. 
 
A committee has reported earlier that although the Yamuna river flows only for 54 kilometres from Palla to Badarpur through Delhi, the 22-km stretch from Wazirabad to Okhla, which is less than 2 per cent of the river length of 1370 kilometres from Yamunotri to Prayagraj, accounts for about 76 per cent of the pollution level in the river and sees maximum discharge of untreated industrial and domestic wastes. 
 
 
“Government is well aware of its responsibilities towards cleaning of rivers and I am happy that slowly this is also taking the shape of a mass movement like the Swachh Bharat Mission. Apart from Ganga, Yamuna, Kali Bhagirathi, Alaknadna and Koshi will be brought under the Cleanathon Project,” – Rattam Lal Kataria, Minister of State, Jal Shakti
 
“A river is a river which must flow, but sadly this is not true for Yamuna. Community engagement is must for taking Yamuna to its past pristine glory. People of Delhi had so far not felt Yamuna as one of their own heritage, and hence the plight of the river,” said U. P. Singh, Secretory, Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation