Yamuna on ventilator; set up STPs in Delhi to depollute the river: Swati Maliwal

New Delhi, Rajya Sabha member from Aam Aadmi Party Swati Maliwal on Friday made a strong case for setting up sewage treatment plants in Delhi to help depollute the Yamuna as she accused the Delhi government of only making false promises to clean the river.
Raising the issue of pollution in the river during Zero Hour in the Upper House, she said people of the National Capital are lucky that Yamuna passes through the city, but the tragedy is that due to “our failure” the river has turned into a drain.
Maliwal said the Yamuna is worshipped since long, but today 22 drains empty in the river and 238 million gallon of untreated sewage is being dumped into it daily.
The situation is such that one sees more of poisonous foam floating on the river than water, she said.
The A MP further said only a small part of the river passes through Delhi but 76 per cent of it gets polluted in the stretch.
She said everyday factories are illegally discharging heavy metals and toxic chemicals in the river and there is no action.
Maliwal said that the Delhi government in 2021 had promised that it would make the Yamuna so clean before 2025 that one can even take a dip into it.
“But even after spending thousands of crores, situation is same as it was earlier…The situation is very bad. The Yamuna is our mother and she is on ventilator. Only politics is being done,” Maliwal said.
She accused the Delhi government of making false promises and indulging in blame games.
“We will have to set up sewage treatment plants on war footing, else the Yamuna will remain like this. We also need support of the central government,” Maliwal said.
In her Zero Hour mention in the House, nominated MP Sudha Murty said electric vehicles can help reduce pollution and greenhouse gas emissions, and suggested several measures.
She also stressed on the importance of India becoming self dependent in battery manufacturing.
This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.