The ambitious initiative to rejuvenate the Yamuna River has officially commenced, following a decisive directive from the Lieutenant Governor’s office. This move aligns with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s electoral commitment to address the pressing water pollution crisis plaguing the national capital. The cleaning of the Yamuna was among the key promises made by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in its Delhi Assembly election manifesto. As part of this pledge, the party had assured voters that, if elected, a BJP-led Delhi government would collaborate closely with the Centre to develop an extensive Yamuna Riverfront and establish a dedicated Yamuna Kosh aimed at revitalizing the severely polluted river.
To kickstart the process, Delhi Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena convened a high-level meeting on Saturday, bringing together key officials, including the Chief Secretary and Additional Chief Secretary (Irrigation & Flood Control). The meeting was convened with the objective of expediting the clean-up process, ensuring that efforts to restore the Yamuna River gain immediate traction. As a direct outcome of these discussions, large-scale cleaning operations commenced on Sunday, deploying a range of specialized machinery, including trash skimmers, weed harvesters, and a dredge utility craft, to systematically remove debris, floating waste, and pollutants from the river’s surface and its surrounding areas.
A carefully structured, four-pronged strategy has been formulated to ensure the success of this rejuvenation project:
- Removal of waste and silt – Intensive efforts will be directed at clearing accumulated garbage, silt, and other pollutants that have severely degraded the Yamuna’s water quality over the years. The clean-up will focus on both the river’s main stream and its banks.
- Cleaning of major drainage channels – Since much of the pollution originates from the city’s drainage network, simultaneous cleaning operations will be carried out in key drainage channels, including the Najafgarh Drain, Supplementary Drain, and all other significant water channels that feed directly into the river. This step aims to prevent further contamination of the Yamuna’s waters.
- Strict monitoring of sewage treatment plants (STPs) – Authorities will conduct daily assessments of the performance and output of existing STPs to ensure they function at optimal capacity. Ensuring that untreated sewage does not flow directly into the Yamuna is a top priority.
- Expansion of treatment infrastructure – A time-bound action plan has been put in place to construct new STPs and decentralised sewage treatment units to bridge the existing shortfall in capacity. Currently, an estimated 400 million gallons per day (MGD) of sewage remains untreated due to infrastructural deficiencies. The establishment of additional treatment facilities aims to rectify this gap and improve overall water quality.
The comprehensive project is structured as a three-year mission and involves the concerted efforts of multiple government agencies. These include the Delhi Jal Board (DJB), the Irrigation & Flood Control Department (I&FC), the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), the Environment Department, the Public Works Department (PWD), and the Delhi Development Authority (DDA). Additionally, the Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) has been directed to enforce stringent monitoring of industrial units across the city. The DPCC will ensure that factories and industrial establishments do not discharge untreated chemical waste or effluents into drainage systems, which ultimately contribute to the Yamuna’s contamination.
The drive to restore the Yamuna River originally gained momentum in January 2023 when the National Green Tribunal (NGT) established a High-Level Committee (HLC) under the leadership of Lieutenant Governor Saxena. The committee was tasked with formulating and overseeing a long-term strategy to tackle the river’s pollution. However, despite holding five rounds of discussions, the initiative faced a major roadblock when the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government, led by Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, approached the Supreme Court, challenging the directives issued by the NGT. In a crucial ruling, then Chief Justice DY Chandrachud granted a stay on the NGT’s orders on July 10, 2023, effectively stalling all planned rejuvenation efforts.
This legal impasse led to a significant setback, with pollution levels in the Yamuna rising alarmingly in the subsequent months. Key water quality indicators, such as Chemical Oxygen Demand (CoD) and Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BoD), reached record-high levels, signaling a drastic deterioration in the river’s condition. The renewed push to clean up the Yamuna, spearheaded by the Lieutenant Governor’s office, seeks to reverse these negative trends and restore the river’s ecological health over the next three years.
