|
Around 35,000 people took part in the Chalo Yamuna campaign on Sunday, cleaning 70 locations along both banks of the Yamuna in a single morning. The drive brought together residents, students, NGO volunteers and government departments to remove waste from the riverfront, Delhi Water Minister Parvesh Sahib Singh said on Monday.
The campaign covered stretches from Soor Ghat in Wazirabad and Signature Bridge to Yamuna Bazar, ITO, Nizamuddin, Sarai Kale Khan and Chilla. The Delhi Minister said around 76,755 kg of municipal solid waste was removed. The participants included 20,000 citizens and RWA members, 10,500 party workers, 2,500 students and 2,000 NGO volunteers. Students from more than 25 Delhi University colleges also joined the drive, with over 400 participants from Deshbandhu College alone. The clean-up involved more than 10 departments, including the Irrigation and Flood Control Department, PWD, MCD, Delhi Jal Board, DUSIB, Delhi Police and DDMA. Officials deployed 26 JCBs, 19 tractor-trolleys, 24 boats, seven weed harvesters and trash skimmers, along with 269 PWD maintenance vans. Singh also thanked 227 sanitation workers and machine operators involved in the drive. The minister said Union Home Minister Amit Shah will inaugurate and lay the foundation stones for 43 Delhi Jal Board projects worth Rs 8,941.22 crore on October 22. These include 10 projects worth Rs 2,827.11 crore to be inaugurated and 33 projects worth Rs 6,114.11 crore for which foundation stones will be laid. Among the key projects are a new 124 MGD sewage treatment plant (STP) at Okhla worth Rs 1,161 crore, the upgradation of eight STPs to increase their combined capacity from 78.2 MGD to 140.8 MGD, and 29 decentralised STPs and sewage pumping stations in outer Delhi. The projects also include a 1,034-km sewer network, a 477 MLD water treatment plant at Chandrawal and a 4.5-km trunk drain in Mundka. The initiatives are expected to improve sewage and water infrastructure for lakhs of residents. The minister said cleaning the ghats was only one part of the effort, adding that preventing untreated sewage from entering the Yamuna was essential for its long-term restoration. He also announced a Birthday with Yamuna initiative, under which huts will be built along the riverbanks for people to celebrate their birthdays. The minister said he plans to celebrate his own birthday on November 7 as part of the initiative, adding that the campaign would continue beyond a single day. (ANI)
|
