Yamuna cleaning: Delhi CM inspects drains, river stretch at Wazirabad barrage

New Delhi: Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta on Thursday inspected several ongoing projects to clean the Yamuna River and directed the officers to work on the project for a riverfront.

The chief minister was accompanied by Delhi LG VK Saxena and Water Minister Parvesh Verma.

"We are constantly monitoring the Yamuna cleaning process. Work to clean the 22 drains are being desilted so that the treated water from these drains when entering the river is as per prescribed standards," she told reporters.

Gupta hit out at the previous AAP government saying that it did not pay attention to the untreated wastewater flowing into the Yamuna through the drain.

She inspected the ongoing desilting work at supplementary drain in Wazirabad, Barapullah drain, Sunheri Pul drain and Kushak drain. Along with cleaning of the drains, Yamuna riverfront project is also under process, said the chief minister during her inspection visit.

There are 22 large drains, including Najafgarh and Shahdara, where desilting work is currently ongoing. Last year the urban development department of Delhi government directed all the concerned agencies to hand over these drains to Irrigation and Flood department.

The decision was made by the government in response to a court order to designate a single agency responsible for management of these drains to end multiplicity of agencies.

According to officials, cleaning these drains will also be helpful in flood management in the city during monsoon season.