Delhi LG VK Saxena chairs meeting of Haryana, Delhi officials for Yamuna rejuvenation

New Delhi [India], April 28 : In an important step forward for the rejuvenation of the Yamuna through seamless inter-state coordination, Delhi LG VK Saxena on Thursday chaired a meeting of top officers from Haryana and Delhi, said a press release on Friday.

The Capital's recent endeavours which had unprecedentedly augmented bio-mining and disposal of Municipal Solid Waste, were also discussed in the meeting.

The meeting was attended by the Chief Secretary, Haryana, Commissioner (ULB), Haryana, Municipal Commissioner (Gurugram), Municipal Commissioner (Faridabad) and Engineers-in-Chief of Irrigation & PHED, Haryana, along with Chief Secretary, Delhi, Principal Secretary (I&FC), Principal Secretary (Environment), MCD Commissioner and CEO (DJB) amongst others.

Coming in the wake of several rounds of conversation and communication between the LG and the Haryana Chief Minister, and at the behest of the NGT, this meeting dwelt upon various aspects of pollution into the river Yamuna being caused by sources originating in Haryana as well as Delhi, wherein concerted efforts were required on part of both the States. Any action taken by only Delhi was insufficient for controlling pollution in the Yamuna since continued pollution from sources in Haryana made the exercise futile.

In this regard, it was pointed out that in the Najafgarh Drain, which accounted for about 70 per cent of pollution into the Yamuna, 40 per cent of discharge (mostly untreated) came from the L1, L2 and L3 drains flowing out of Gurugram in Haryana.

Similarly, the Mangeshpur and Bhupa Drains coming from Haryana and carrying huge amounts of industrial effluent, fell into the Najafgarh Drain at Kakrola regulator and the DD6 Drain from the Kundli Industrial Area in Haryana fell into the supplementary drain. Apart from these, the DD2 and DD8 Drains from Ppat and Kundli in Haryana emptied directly into Yamuna right before the river entered Delhi.

It was pointed out that unless the water being discharged into the Najafgarh Drain and the Yamuna from these 08 Drains was not trapped and treated before its outfall, efforts being undertaken by Delhi in cleng the Najafgarh Drain and the Yamuna will not prove to be sufficient.

The officials from Haryana informed of the efforts being undertaken in this regard and assured the Lt. Governor that the same will be augmented enhanced and completed within a timeframe corresponding to that of Delhi.

It was also decided that henceforth officials concerned from Haryana will also attend the meetings of the High-Level Committee on Yamuna chaired by the LG and carry on instructions and directions passed in such discussions.

The visiting officials also went through a presentation made by the MCD with regard to Municipal Solid Waste and appreciated the learnings thereof. It was decided that ways and means of constructive collaboration regarding the cleng of drains and the Yamuna will be evolved between the officials and agencies and coordinated efforts will be made to achieve the related goals set by the High-Level Committee in this regard. Officials will undertake a joint visit to Najafgarh Drain and ensure that the STPs and CETPs are run at their full capacity.

The LG described the cleng of the Yamuna as an important National Mission and instructed the officials to proactively cooperate with each other and the various concessionaires to achieve the goal of rejuvenating the Yamuna and flattening the garbage mounds in a time-bound manner. He thanked the Haryana Chief Minister for his proactive support in this exercise.