Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA Raghav Chadha said on Tuesday the toxic foam found floating on the Yamuna river was a gift to Delhi from the governments in Uttar Pradesh and Haryana.
He said about 105 million gallons per day (MGD) wastewater from the Yamuna in Haryana and about 50 MGD wastewater from the Ganga in Uttar Pradesh merged into Okhla Barrage and this water had industrial waste, untreated detergents and ammonia that led to formation of the dirty frothing.
Radha, who is also the vice-chairman of the Delhi Jal Board, said the foam in the Yamuna was formed in the Okhla Barrage area and it fell under the UP irrigation govt. “It is the UP government’s responsibility. But like every year, they failed this year too… The polluted water is not Delhi’s, it is a ‘gift’ to Delhi by the UP and Haryana governments,” Chadha was quoted as saying by news agency.
He further said the AAP government had been writing to its counterpart in UP to use irrigation technology and bioculture method, but in vain.
“The BJP governments in UP and Haryana should be blamed for this. Year after year, we have written to the UP government to use irrigation technology and bioculture method. But they did not pay any heed,” he said.
A political blame-game over the polluted river was back in the national capital between the ruling AAP and the opposition BJP.
The BJP leadership has alleged the AAP government was not allowing Chhath celebrations on the Yamuna banks to hide the “pathetic” state of the river.
However, a number of Chhath devotees were taking dips in the polluted frothy river for the second day.
The 22-km stretch of the Yamuna between Wazirabad and Okhla, which is less than two per cent of its length of 1,370km from Yamunotri to Allahabad, accounts for around 80 per cent of the pollution load in the river.