New Delhi [India], June 12 (ANI): Slamming Delhi Minister Saurabh Bhardwaj’s remarks on the cleansing of the Yamuna River, LG House officers mentioned that it was solely after the Delhi authorities’s “inaction” that the National Green Tribunal (NGT) constituted a high-level committee chaired by LG VK Saxena.
This comes after Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief Saurabh Bhardwaj challenged Delhi LG to current any new tasks he has initiated earlier than “taking credit” for the work carried out by the Arvind Kejriwal authorities.
Reacting over this, the LG House officers mentioned, “The statement issued by Minister Saurabh Bhardwaj is petty, self-defeating, laughable, anti-people and anti-Delhi to say the least. Had the Government of Delhi done a single concrete thing with regard to cleaning the Yamuna during the last eight years, apart from making hollow announcements issuing advertisements and hoisting banners, the NGT would not have slammed the Delhi Government for inaction on this front and constituted a special High-Level Committee and requested the LG to Chair it”.
The officers quoted from the NGT order dated January 9, 2023, whereby the NGT had noticed that the scenario concerning the cleansing of the Yamuna River stays “unsatisfactory” and ordered the structure of a high-level committee.
The NGT Bench has noticed, “It does appear that the situation to a great extent remains unsatisfactory, in violation of the judgment of the Hon’ble Supreme Court and orders of this Tribunal, fixing rigid timelines which are being defied at whims, without accountability and without visible improvement in the ground situation. Thus, an effective execution regime appears to be necessary with the involvement of top most administrative authorities”.
It added, “In the light of the above discussion, we constitute a High-Level Committee (HLC) of concerned authorities in Delhi where pollution of Yamuna is higher (about 75 per cent), compared to other river basins States. We request the Lieutenant Governor, Delhi, who is Chairman DDA and Administrator of Delhi under Article 239 of the Constitution, to head the Committee.”The officers additional cited the NGT observations on the Delhi authorities and known as it a “telling statement” on the “abject failure” of the Delhi Jal Board”Firstly, there is still a huge gap in the generation and treatment of sewage with 35 STPs treating 573.5 MGD, with a gap of 194.5 MGD. The timelines of all STPs (except Coronation Pillar which was commissioned in March 2022 against the timeline of June 2020) have been continuously extended and presently stand extended up to June, 23,” the assertion learn.
“Secondly, all drains in which untreated sewage is being discharged are not intercepted and diverted so that the untreated sewage is not conveyed to the river. DJB is yet to trap 147 drains out falling into Najafgarh and Shahdara Drains and timelines for each stage of trapping of different segments of the drains is yet to be assigned to specific officers,” it added”Thirdly, DJB is yet to ensure that all the households in the areas where sewerage network has been provided are connected with the sewerage network and environmental compensation is yet to be imposed.,” the assertion additional learn.
The official additionally requested Bhardwaj to chorus from this “unnecessary mudslinging”, particularly at a time when after eight years of “total inaction” on his and his authorities’s half, issues had began to look higher for the Yamuna and the individuals of Delhi.
Bhardwaj’s remarks had are available in response to Lieutenant Governor’s declare to wash the Yamuna River in a time-bound method.
The AAP chief had emphasised that every one the progress made within the Yamuna cleansing efforts has been executed in accordance with the great six-point motion plan introduced by the Chief Minister in November 2021. (ANI)