BJP’s Praveen Khandelwal: Accused of neglecting Yamuna river cleaning project

New Delhi: Praveen Khandelwal, an MP for the Bharatiya Janata Party, said Monday that the previous Aam Aadmi Party-led Delhi government had neglected the Yamuna River cleanup project, claiming that the equipment needed for the job had been sitting idle for the previous 18 months.

“The machines that are now being used for cleaning the Yamuna River were lying in Delhi for the last one and a half years, and the government of that time believed in the politics of quarrels and lies, so they did not use these machines properly,” he said.

“Yamuna will definitely be cleaned now, and work has already started to fulfill the promise,” the BJP MP said, highlighting the fresh advances under the present government.

“The Ganga and Yamuna will undoubtedly be cleaned now that the circumstances in Delhi have altered. The people of Delhi are really pleased that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is fully fulfilling his pledge to them, which was to begin cleaning the Yamuna right now,” he said.

Notably, the Yamuna River cleaning project got underway in New Delhi on Monday.

According to Navin Kumar Choudhary, Delhi’s additional chief secretary, Yamuna will be cleansed within the next three years, before 2027, in accordance with directives from higher authorities. The job will be completed in three or four phases, he said. The removal of solid garbage from the riverbed will come first.

“As directed by the highest level, we will clean Yamuna in the next three years before 2027,” Navin Kumar Choudhary told reporters on Monday. The task will be completed in three to four phases. The first step is to fix all of the STPs and remove the solid waste from the riverbed; this work is progressing more smoothly. Additionally, we’ll make sure that no chemicals are released into Yamuna untreated.

Before the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won the Delhi Assembly elections, one of their main promises was to clean up the Yamuna, which has often witnessed toxic foam leaking from certain regions. During the campaign, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the BJP were accused of a number of things related to the condition of the river.

After 27 years, the BJP will control the administration of the nation’s capital after winning a historic mandate for the state parliament. With 48 of 70 seats, the party secured a majority, while the Aam Aadmi Party’s total dropped dramatically from 62 to 22.