Yamuna water clean enough to perform Chhath Puja: BJP

Delhi BJP head Virendra Sachdeva on Thursday claimed that the Yamuna, which had turned into a “dirty drain” during the previous AAP government, has now been cleaned to the extent that its water can be used for rituals.

Sachdeva said, “The Kejriwal government had turned the Yamuna into a drain. On October 25, 2024, when I took a dip at the ITO ghat to expose its miserable condition, I had to be hospitalised, but under the CM Rekha Gupta-led government, the Yamuna has been cleaned to such an extent that Delhi BJP spokesperson Anil Gupta performed aachman (ritual drinking) of the Yamuna water before journalists.”

He added that the transformation of the river is the result of the government’s “eight-month-long commitment and efforts toward cleaning the Yamuna”, which has made the water “not only fit for taking a dip but also pure enough for aachman (ritual drinking)”.

Recalling his dip, Sachdeva said, “On October 25, 2024, 10 days before Chhath Puja, I had taken a dip in the Yamuna at the ITO ghat in Delhi to expose the river’s plight. The world witnessed that the Yamuna had become like a filthy drain and that dip had landed me in the hospital.”

He said the incident had exposed the alleged corruption under the Kejriwal government. “That dip, he said, exposed the Kejriwal government’s loot in the name of cleaning the Yamuna. With the blessings of Yamuna Ji and Chhath Maiya, the BJP government was formed in Delhi,” he added.

According to Sachdeva, Delhi BJP spokesperson and environmental expert Dr Anil Gupta demonstrated the results of the river’s improved condition on television. “The BJP spokesperson and environmental expert Dr Anil Gupta showed live on TV that after eight months of Yamuna cleaning under the Rekha Gupta government, the river water now has no foul smell, the dissolved oxygen level is between 4.5 and 5.5 and the pH level is 7.5, which is close to normal.”

Sachdeva concluded, “Whether it was in the name of Yamuna Maiya or Chhath Maiya, the Arvind Kejriwal government indulged in corruption. And it is due to that very corruption that they are now out of power.”