NEW DELHI: Chhath Puja will be celebrated on the Yamuna ghats like before, chief minister Arvind Kejriwal said on Friday. He tweeted that all officials had been directed to ensure that the river was not polluted. Meanwhile, Delhi BJP took a jibe at the chief minister stating that Kejriwal remembered a clean Yamuna only when elections or Chhath were approaching. “He (Kejriwal) has spoken about cleaning the Yamuna countless times since 2014, but the river’s situation is getting worse. The central government has given Rs 2,409 crore to Delhi government for setting up sewage treatment plants, but the money has been wasted like water in his political tourism,” said Delhi BJP chief Adesh Gupta. Delhi government had earlier announced that 1,100 ghats had been set up for Chhath Puja on October 30 and 31. It had also announced funds of Rs 25 crore for the festival that is popular among over 20 lakh Poorvanchalis living in Delhi. The pollution level in the Yamuna remained very high despite a good water flow during the monsoon. In September, the faecal coliform level in the river, depicting untreated sewage, was 1,700 times the desirable limit and over 200 times the standard. Recently, Union Jal Shakti ministry, DPCC and other stakeholders formed a joint committee to check froth formation downstream at Okhla barrage during Chhath Puja. A sign of pollution in the river, the froth is formed largely due to untreated waste and surfactants and phosphates in detergents used locally or industrially.
Source: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/orders-issued-to-ensure-yamuna-not-polluted-during-chhath-delhi-cm-arvind-kejriwal/articleshow/95019318.cms