‘Both BJP, AAP to blame for Yamuna crisis’

Vibha Sharma

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New Delhi, October 29

Amid the ongoing political slugfest between the ruling BJP at the Centre and the incumbent AAP in Delhi over the Yamuna environmental crisis and dangerous frothing of its waters, ‘waterman’ Rajendra Singh today held the municipal corporation in the national capital and the Centre are “equally responsible for sending the Yamuna to the ICU”.

Govts responsible

To keep the river clean is the responsibility of both raj and samaaj, but of raj more than samaaj because the Yamuna is a big river and to keep it free-flowing is the responsibility of the Centre and of keeping it clean of the MC. Rajendra Singh, Environmentalist

The responsibility of managing river and rain waters is with the state, he added, calling the chemical spray to dissipate frothing amid the ongoing Chhath festival is not just “dangerous” for people but also the health of the river. BJP’s Delhi MPs yesterday accused the Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP government of “infusing poisonous chemical” to remove froth from the Yamuna ahead of Chhath during which devotees take a holy dip in rivers/water bodies.

“The chemical will make the situation worse by interfering with Yamuna’s natural character, even though there is hardly any left in the river,” said Singh, Stockholm Water Prize winner and Chairperson of the People’s World Commission on Flood and Drought.

Notably, detractors and BJP leaders say that by spraying chemicals, the Kejriwal-led government was only trying to avoid the repeat of last year when pictures and videos showing devotees offering prayers in the froth-filled Yamuna on Chhath had triggered furore.

However, holding the Centre and his party-led municipal corporations equally responsible for turning the Yamuna into a “dirty, stinking drain,” Singh said to keep the river clean is the responsibility of both ‘raj’ and ‘samaaj’ (those in power and the society)…‘raj’ more than ‘samaaj’ because the Yamuna is a big river and to keep it ‘aviral’ (free-flowing) is the responsibility of the Centre and of keeping it clean of the MCD.

“It is the responsibility of the MC to ensure dirty water does not flow into the river. The Delhi Government is also responsible but the bigger onus of turning the river into a dirty, stinking drain is on the Centre and the Municipal Corporation,” Singh said.

“The responsibility of allocation of waters of a river is with the Centre. In those terms, the ruling party at the Centre is responsible for ‘hatya’ (murder) of Yamuna by not ensuring ‘aviral’ flow in it. The incumbent Delhi Government has also not fulfilled the promises it made, sending the river further into the mess,” Singh said.