“Delhi govt is committed to working for people,” – CM Rekha Gupta

NEW DELHI: After inspecting the supplementary drains in the national capital, Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta on Thursday attacked the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and said that the BJP government, unlike the previous one, is committed to working for the people.

“Today, we are visiting almost every big drain in Delhi. When questions are raised about what we are doing regarding cleaning the river Yamuna – all 22 big drains that discharge into Yamuna – the work of desilting all of them is going on, and we are continuously monitoring the progress in this direction… Unlike the previous government that used to be run from the AC rooms, we are on the ground, and our government is committed to working for the people,” Delhi CM told reporters.

Earlier today, the Delhi Chief Minister, along with Delhi Lieutenant Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena and Minister Parvesh Verma, inspected the supplementary drain at Wazirabad in the national capital.

The Delhi government has assigned the Flood and Irrigation Department a special responsibility to ensure the timely desilting of drains.

The drain (Wazirabad) is one of the major ones flowing into the Yamuna and is, hence, crucial in cleaning the river.

Notably, after the BJP won with a historic mandate of 48 seats of 70 Delhi Assembly seats, the cleaning process for the Yamuna River was taken up, and trash skimmers, weed harvesters, and dredge utility vehicles were deployed to the river on February 16.

Pollution in the Yamuna was a key issue during the Delhi Assembly elections, with political parties targeting each other over pollution, encroachments, and flood management. BJP attacked AAP and accused it of failing to deliver on promises of cleaning the Yamuna.

Apart from this, the BJP has mentioned cleaning the Yamuna as one of the top priorities in its manifesto.

Since then, the Delhi Government has requested the Territorial Army to safeguard the river from dumping, mining, encroachment, and theft.

This decision aims to preserve the river in its natural form and achieve the government’s target of cleaning the Yamuna within three years.

The Territorial Army’s Ecological Task Force is capable of protecting the Yamuna River, and their deployment is anticipated in the coming months.

This move is crucial, given the severe pollution of the Yamuna River, which is attributed to untreated sewage discharge, industrial effluents, garbage dumping, illegal sand mining, water theft, and encroachment. (ANI)

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