Devotees in Delhi celebrate Chhath Pooja in toxic foam covered sacred Yamuna river

New Delhi: In what has become a repeated embarrassment for Delhi government, a layer of froth was seen floating over parts of the Yamuna river near Kalindi Kunj, with Chhath devotees standing in toxic foam-laden water to offer prayers. On Monday, several devotees were seen taking a dip in the Kalindi Kunj and ITO ghats.

The Delhi Government has banned Chhath Pooja on these ghats of Yamuna river. 

From Wednesday morning, the Delhi government has deployed boats and sprinkling water to remove the toxic foam that is formed in the Yamuna river.   

“Fifteen teams have been deployed to remove the foam in the river. The exercise will continue till the current frothing episode comes to an end,” an official said.

The 22-kilometre stretch of the Yamuna between Wazirabad and Okhla, which is less than 2 per cent of its length of 1,370 kilometres from Yamunotri to Allahabad, accounts for around 80 per cent of the pollution load in the river. The presence of phosphates and surfactants in untreated sewage is a major reason behind frothing in the river.

Alleging the BJP ruled states, AAP leader and Delhi Jal Board Vice Chairman Raghav Chadha claimed that Haryana and Uttar Pradesh have been releasing around 155 million gallons of untreated wastewater a day in the river through Najafgarh and Shahdara drains. “This water containing a lot of organic waste, chemicals and detergents fall from a height at the Okhla barrage which leads to the formation of foam," he said.

Parvesh Sahib Singh Verma, the West Delhi MP from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Wednesday entered a ghat of the polluted Yamuna river at ITO in Delhi despite barricades in place to stop Chhath puja devotees from taking dips and performing rituals in the frothy water. 

"The central government has provided Arvind Kejriwal 2,419 crore rupees so far for cleaning the Yamuna. Let alone clean, Yamuna is dirtier than ever before. Where did all the money go? Has Arvind Kejriwal spent all the money in putting out more advertisments just to promote himself? Shame" said Amit Malviya, in-charge of BJP's national information and technology department, on Wednesday.

Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal, during his election campaigns, both in 2015 and 2020, had promised to clean Yamuna river of toxic wastes and return its glory.