As minister globe-trots, dirty flows the Yamuna

AK Walia is flying around world to learn ways to clean river. But experts and DJB officials say the Yamuna will stink even during the Games

As minister globe-trots, dirty flows the Yamuna

AK Walia is flying around world to learn ways to clean river. But experts and DJB officials say the Yamuna will stink even during the Games

Want to clean the Yamuna River? Jet set around the world first.

Barely a week after Walia led a delegation to Bangkok to learn ways to clean the Yamuna, he is planning another trip to London to pick-up more effective methods.

Officials in Delhi Jal Board (DJB) said the team led by Walia will study the cleaning process of Thames River, which cuts through central London.

"The Bangkok trip did not yield much. The system that is in place in Bangkok can not be adopted here. Next month the delegation may visit London to study the cleaning of Thames," said a senior DJB official, wishing anonymity.

However, even officials at DJB feel despite the frantic study trips, the government will not be able to clean the Yamuna before the Commonwealth Games next year.

"The Yamuna clean-up project will be big and last for eight to ten years," said the DJB official.

The Delhi government has spent Rs 872.15 crore since the Yamuna Action Plan-I (YAP) was launched in 1993.
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Stink will stay: Even DJB officials feel the government will not be able to clean the Yamuna before the Commonwealth Games next year.

Water activist SA Naqvi said, "The Yamuna can not be cleaned only by the government's action plans. It needs public support. At many places the government has constructed walls along the river but people still throw garbage by making holes in them," he said. He added the Hudson River in New York has many common aspects with the Yamuna. "The government should adopt methods used by the United States to clean the Hudson River," said Naqvi.

Rs 872.15
Has been spent by the Delhi government since the Yamuna Action Plan-I was launched in 1993. The plan created sewage treatment capacity of 753.25 million litre per day

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