1300 MT of Garbage Removed from Delhi’s River Yamuna

Approximately 1300 metric tons (MT) of garbage has been removed from Yamuna in the past 10 years, according to the Delhi Irrigation and Flood Control (I&FC) minister, Parvesh Sahib Singh. Singh inspected the river by boat on Wednesday.

Cleaning the river Yamuna of Delhi was one of the key promises made by the BJP during the recently concluded Delhi assembly elections. This is part of the Delhi government’s ambitious plan to launch a ferry and crew service along the Yamuna river. The Delhi tourism and Transport Development Corporation has also issued a request for proposal to choose an operator for two solar powered cruise ships.

Plan to Clean Yamuna

Yamuna will be cleaned in a four-pro strategy, which was rolled out by LG VK Saxena. The aim is to clean Yamuna within three years using trash skimmers, weed harvesters and a dredge utility craft. The cleaning operation has already started last month.

“With the help of the DDA (Delhi Development Authority), we have started working on cleaning the river… We are working on mission mode,” said minister Singh while addressing the media after the boat ride.

The government also plans to connect all the drains in Delhi to Sewage Treatment Plants (STP) and increase their capacity to prevent untreated water from flowing into the river, directly.