Thu Feb 20 14:08:59 UTC 2025: ## Delhi’s New BJP Government Prioritizes Yamuna River Cleanup After Taking Oath

**New Delhi, India** – Delhi’s newly sworn-in Chief Minister Rekha Gupta and her cabinet ministers began their tenure with a symbolic gesture: a river aarti ceremony at the Yamuna River’s Vasudev Ghat. This event, mirroring the Ganga aarti in Haridwar and Varanasi, underscored the BJP’s commitment to cleaning up the polluted Yamuna, a key campaign promise that contributed significantly to their victory after a 28-year absence from power.

The BJP secured a landslide victory in the recent assembly elections, winning 48 out of 70 seats. The party’s campaign effectively highlighted the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)’s perceived failures in addressing Delhi’s civic issues, including the alarming state of the Yamuna River. Despite spending over ₹6,000 crore in the past five years, the AAP government was criticized for failing to deliver on its own promises to clean the river.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during the BJP’s victory celebrations, reinforced the party’s pledge to make the Yamuna a symbol of Delhi’s identity. The BJP’s election manifesto included the creation of a “Yamuna Kosh” for river revitalization and waterfront development.

The Lieutenant Governor’s office has already initiated a four-pronged cleanup plan, starting four days before the Chief Minister’s oath. This plan includes removing trash and silt, expanding sewage treatment capacity to 1,000 million gallons per day, increasing common effluent treatment plant capacity to 220 MLD, and implementing regular monitoring of industrial units and wastewater treatment plants. Work has commenced using skimmers, weed harvesters, and a dredger.

The Yamuna’s pollution became a central campaign issue in the final days of the election, with accusations traded between the BJP and AAP regarding responsibility for the river’s degradation. The BJP’s decisive win signals a clear mandate for addressing this critical environmental challenge and fulfilling their promise to restore the Yamuna to its former glory.

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