NMCG orgses 'Cleanathon' to clean river Yamuna

The National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) orgsed 'Cleanathon,' a mass drive to clean river Yamuna in the national capital.

Yamuna is the longest tributary of river Ganga, and the government aims to keep it clean to make Ganga pollution-free.

Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat and Minister of State for Jal Shakti Rattan Lal Kataria attended the cleanliness drive, which also saw officials from the ministry and the NMCG in attendance.

Ministers and officials from various other departments also joined the cleanliness drive along with volunteers and the Army personnel at Kalindi Kunj Ghat.

Speaking on the occasion, Shekhawat said: "Rivers and cities can only remain clean if the citizens join this mission with a responsibility to keep them clean."

"I appreciate officials of the Namami Gange Mission, who have not only worked for infrastructure creation but have also brought people together by launching `Ganga Mitra' and other initiatives. I believe we are on the right path," added Shekhawat.

As a part of 'Cleanathon' initiative, various ghats on the Yamuna river were cleaned by the volunteers. These include Kalandi Kunj, Okhala Sanctuary, Okhla Dhobi Ghat, Nizamuddin, ITO Chhat Ghat, Yamuna Bazar, Nigambodh Ghat, Kudeshia, and Wazirabad.

Many volunteers and citizens took part in the cleanliness drive, and a large amount of garbage and plastic waste dumped on these Ghats was collected. They also planted saplings near the ghats.

UP Singh, Secretary, Ministry of Jal Shakti, said: "The idea is that the Yamuna, whose connect with people of Delhi is not very good because of its water quality as well as the cleanliness of the ghats is not what we aspire for. So, this is one step in that direction while we are working on a number of sewage treatment plants to improve the water flow in the river. While those are long term projects, in the short term what we are trying is let at least all the ghats on the Yamuna be clean."

Rajiv Ranjan Mishra, Director General of National Mission for Clean Ganga, said various projects on Ganga have been completed and work on its tributaries including the Yamuna is going on.

"In total, we have 298 projects. Ninety-eight projects have already been completed and the work is going on so far as other projects are concerned."

Mishra said that every project has a timeline and out of 298, 150 are sewerage projects. A large number of these are nearing completion. By 2019, all projects in Uttarakhand and Jharkhand will be completed.

"In Uttar Pradesh, by 2020 the majority of projects will be completed, especially in major cities like Prayagraj, Kanpur, and Varanasi. The projects on tributaries were taken up only last year. That is why these are going to take time. Timeline for projects on tributaries is 2022," he added.

With macroscopic vision, the National Mission for Clean Ganga is devoted to cleng all the tributaries and restoring the glory of river Ganga.

( With inputs from ANI )