New Delhi: Thousands of volunteers joined govt agencies in a mega-cleanliness drive at 70 locations across Delhi Sunday as part of ‘Chalo Yamuna Campaign’.Chief minister Rekha Gupta urged people to stop dumping religious offerings and other waste in the river, saying that worshipping Yamuna must be accompanied by a collective responsibility to protect it from pollution.The drive covered Yamuna ghats and surrounding areas, with young people, members of resident welfare associations (RWAs), NGOs, social organisations, and public representatives participating.Volunteers found large quantities of clothes offered to deities, damaged idols, puja offerings, plastic wrappers and other waste in and around the river, which Gupta appealed to all not to dump. Keeping Yamuna clean requires a change in public behaviour, she said, adding that cleanliness should become a way of life rather than remaining limited to campaigns.The drive aimed not only at cleaning Yamuna ghats but also at building awareness about its conservation and encouraging citizens to become ‘Yamuna praharis’, she added.Saying that govt is working on multiple fronts to tackle pollution in the river, she said work is on to set up sewage treatment plants (STPs) and decentralised STPs to tap drains discharging into Yamuna. Desilting the drains across Delhi is underway, she said.She said controlling pollution at its source is a priority and called on residents to dispose of waste properly and help maintain cleanliness around the river. Public participation is essential to complement govt’s efforts to make Yamuna pollution-free, she added.Saying that Delhi govt aims to clean up Yamuna within two to three years, PWD and water Minister Parvesh Verma said the participants in Sunday’s drive removed hundreds of tonnes of waste from the river and its banks. The flood control department deployed trash skimmers and weed harvesters, PWD used more than 250 maintenance vans and MCD sent hundreds of vehicles to clean the river banks, he added.
