NEW DELHI: Cleaning the Yamuna river along with providing 24-hour safe and clean tap water will be the top priority for the Delhi government, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said on Wednesday.
The CM had held a meeting with the head of departments, cabinet ministers and secretaries to discuss the course of action to be taken on the promises made on Aam Aadmi Party’s ‘Guarantee Card’.
Kejriwal has given a week’s time to the officials to come up with a concrete plan on implementing the poll promises faster.
“There has been a significant improvement in the availability of water in Delhi, especially in the summer season for the last two years. Government has developed a detailed plan to further improve water availability. We assure you 24-hour safe and clean tap water in the next five years,” said Kejriwal.
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According to officials, plans for cleaning Yamuna have already been initiated and ideas are being discussed.
“We are now clear about how to proceed with cleaning the river. In the last tenure, we had to understand why Yamuna was being polluted and which techniques will work. We are almost ready with plans and therefore no time will be wasted in this term,” added an official.
The Delhi Jal Board, which was previously headed by Kejriwal, now has Satyendar Jain as its chairperson. Jain has multiple ministries in his kitty including health and PWD.
“I did not have any department with me during the last tenure as well except the Delhi Jal Board. It is much easier to monitor the functioning of all the departments than handling any particular department. I believe it is the responsibility of the Chief Minister to overlook the performance of all the ministers and the operations of their departments,” CM noted.
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One of the officials, who did not wished to be named, said having a single cabinet minister looking after all the water-related portfolios will escalate policies faster. During the Assembly election rallies, Kejriwal had promised of making Yamuna so clean that people can take ‘bath’ and ‘dip’ in the river.
‘Plans almost ready’
According to officials, plans for cleaning Yamuna have already been initiated and ideas are being discussed.
“We are now clear about how to proceed with cleaning the river. In the last tenure, we had to understand why Yamuna was being polluted and which techniques will work. We are almost ready with plans and therefore no time will be wasted in this term,” added an official.
The NGT had earlier rapped the Delhi Jal Board over cleaning of the Yamuna and had said there has been no “meaningful progress” on the ground in the last three years. It said the river was highly contaminated with industrial effluents and sewage