More than 35,000 people joined the ‘Chalo Yamuna’ campaign on October 18, cleaning 70 locations along the river and removing 76,755 kg of waste in one morning.
Water Minister Parvesh Sahib Singh shared the details on Monday and announced that Union Home Minister Amit Shah would inaugurate and lay the foundation stones of 43 Delhi Jal Board projects worth Rs 8,941.22 crore on October 22.
The minister also announced the ‘Birthday with Yamuna’ initiative, under which huts will be set up along the riverbank for people to celebrate their birthdays. The drive covered stretches from Soor Ghat in Wazirabad and Signature Bridge to Yamuna Bazar, ITO, Nizamuddin, Sarai Kale Khan and Chilla. Water Minister Parvesh Sahib Singh shared the details on Monday and announced that Union Home Minister Amit Shah would inaugurate and lay the foundation stones of 43 Delhi Jal Board projects worth Rs 8,941.22 crore on October 22. Participants included 20,000 citizens, families and RWA members, 10,500 party workers, 2,500 students and 2,000 NGO volunteers. Another 29 decentralised STPs and sewage pumping stations, worth Rs 3,113.67 crore, will cover 358 unauthorised colonies and 113 villages with 36.29 lakh residents. The package also includes a 1,034-km sewer network worth Rs 1,691 crore, a 477 MLD water treatment plant at Chandrawal costing Rs 298.3 crore, and a 4.5-km Mundka trunk drain worth Rs 225.02 crore. The Chandrawal plant will replace facilities built in 1935 and 1955 and serve 22 lakh people. Of the total package, 10 projects worth Rs 2,827.11 crore will be inaugurated, while foundation stones will be laid for 33 projects worth Rs 6,114.11 crore. He said he would celebrate his own birthday with the Yamuna on November 7 and appealed to Delhiites to join in, adding that the cleanliness drive was meant to grow into a sustained public movement.
Singh said the focus must be on stopping sewage from entering the Yamuna, rather than limiting efforts to cleaning its banks.
