NEW DELHI: The four-day-long Chhath Puja festivities is less than a week away, and the political debate around the water quality of the Yamuna River has erupted once again. On Thursday, a BJP cohort led by state party chief Adesh Gupta inspected the Chhath Puja ghat at ITO and Kalindi Kunj, and took stock of the preparations.
The group with the leader of the opposition Ramvir Bidhuri visited the ghat at ITO, while BJP MPs Parvesh Verma and Manoj Tiwari went to the ghat at Kalindi Kunj. Criticising the AAP-led Delhi government, Adesh Gupta said, “The Central government gave `2,419 crores to Kejriwal (chief minister) to set up sewage plants but what happened to those plants?” There is neither any kind of preparation nor cleaning of the Yamuna River. Like other claims, this claim of his has also proved to be a failure,” the BJP chief said.
Describing the Kejriwal government as anti-Hindu, Gupta said that whenever any festival of Hindus comes, they try to stop it by issuing ‘Tughlaqi decree’. The BJP leaders also shared the visuals of the toxic white foam floating on the Yamuna River at both ITO and Kalindi Kunj ghats.
Further, Manoj Tiwari alleged that they found around 50,000 litres of toxic chemicals at the Kalindi Kunj ghat, which had been sprayed at the Yamuna River to remove the foam. “On spotting us, the people who are employed to remove the foam were immediately rushed off from the spot and erased the anime of chemicals after looking at us.
Regarding the chemicals, the MP said that he filed a complaint to the Delhi Police of the concerned area.
Last Friday, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal announced that Delhi will have 1,100 locations across the city where the Chhath Puja can be offered. This year, the Delhi government has allocated `25 crore for the creation of ghats and to provide better amenities for devotees.
Meanwhile, L-G Vinai Kumar Saxena on Thursday cautioned Kejriwal against ‘misleading and pre-mature publicity’, as approval has been given for celebrations only at designated ghats. However, the AAP hit back, accusing the L-G of ‘lowering the dignity of the chair he occupies’ by his public reprimands of the chief minister.