PM Narendra Modi has given a clear statementthat he means business when it comes to cleaning up the river Ganga, which flows through his Varanasi LokSabha constituency. The Ganga rejuvenation is part of Cabinet minister Uma Bharti’s port-folio, there is separate Rs 2,000 crore budget and an NRI fund for it. No doubt the Ganga needs special attention. But closer home, it is the state of the Yamuna; National Green Tribunal (NGT) came up with a plan for putting on course disjointed efforts for a cleaner Yamuna, focusing on the stretch of the river that passes through the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi.
As stated by the data before the Tribunal, Delhi and its neighborhoods, The NCT accounts for only 3 per cent of the river’s course, but contributes 76 per cent of pollutants. Over the decades, as the state of the Yamuna deteriorated, Delhi’s successive governments have failed to make any significant headway.The tribunal thinks rejuvenating ‘the Yamuna is a feasible task. In fact, it has even come up with a 2017 deadline by when it should be possible to set up 32 new sewage treatment plants and reduce the flow of pollutants into the river to a negligible level. And, it has come up with a figure – Rs 4,000 crore – which it reckons is affordable for Delhi. The NGT has even set up a committee to monitor the progress of this mainlyse Nirmal Yamuna Revitalization Project, 2017.