New Delhi, 28 June (H.S.): Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta on Sunday joined a cleanliness drive at the Yamuna Ghat in Chilla Village, participating in voluntary labour alongside a large number of youths, volunteers and local residents. By personally taking part in the cleaning campaign, the Chief Minister emphasised the importance of public participation in restoring the Yamuna. She said the Yamuna is not merely a river but the memory, culture and lifeline of Delhi, and making it clean, unpolluted and free-flowing is a shared responsibility of both the government and every citizen.

The Chief Minister said the Delhi Government is working continuously on a scientific, sustainable and comprehensive plan to rejuvenate the Yamuna, adding that clean river ghats are a visible reflection of this commitment. She said the government is rapidly modernising sewage treatment plants, establishing new decentralised sewage treatment facilities, expanding the sewer network and gradually tapping all drains flowing into the Yamuna. Expressing confidence, she said that in the future no untreated drain would be allowed to discharge directly into the river. She added that the government is also working to transform awareness about Yamuna cleanliness into a people's movement.

Gupta said public awareness is the most powerful catalyst for change. She urged citizens not to immerse पूजा materials, plastic waste, construction debris or any other garbage into the Yamuna and appealed to them to actively participate in making cleanliness a mass movement. She said the Delhi Government is setting up dedicated collection centres (porta cabins) across various locations for the respectful disposal of religious offerings and damaged idols. These materials will then undergo scientific and systematic recycling, ensuring both respect for religious sentiments and effective waste management.

The Chief Minister further announced that the Delhi Government will organise public welfare campaigns every Sunday, including cleanliness drives, Yamuna cleaning initiatives and tree plantation programmes, to strengthen community participation. She appealed to citizens to take an active part in these campaigns, saying that only the combined efforts of the government and society can realise the vision of a clean, unpolluted and free-flowing Yamuna.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar