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Chief Minister Rekha Gupta on Sunday joined a floodplain cleanup drive along the Yamuna in Chilla village, and said the Delhi government will set up dedicated collection centres across the city for disposal of puja materials and damaged idols.
The collected materials, Gupta said, will undergo scientific and systematic recycling. “This will ensure both respect for religious sentiments and effective waste management,” she added.
Gupta described the Yamuna as not merely a river but the city’s culture and lifeline. “Keeping it clean, pure, and free-flowing is not just the government’s responsibility, but the shared duty of every citizen. The Yamuna, a centre of faith for millions for centuries, is facing the challenge of pollution. Restoring it to a clean and pristine state is a shared responsibility of both the government and society,” she said.
Notably, the 22km stretch of Yamuna from Wazirabad to Okhla constitutes just 2% of the river’s total length but carries 76% of its overall pollution load. At least 22 drains discharge untreated effluents into the river, which also lacks minimum environmental flow. Parts of the river downstream of Wazirabad resemble a sewage canal.
The CM said the government is modernising sewage treatment plants, setting up new decentralised units, expanding the sewer network, and tapping all drains flowing into the Yamuna in a phased manner as part of a scientific and sustainable solution.
She urged citizens not to immerse puja materials, plastic, construction debris, or any other waste into the river, and called upon them to actively contribute towards making cleanliness a people’s movement.
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