Delhi L-G accuses Kejriwal of stopping Yamuna cleaning efforts, AAP hits back

New Delhi, Nov 14 (PTI) Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena on Thursday accused former Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal of stonewalling his efforts to clean the Yamuna, claiming the AAP supremo feared that he might get the credit for it.

Reacting to the allegations, AAP said Saxena was "misleading" the people and trying to take credit for projects initiated by the Delhi government.

In a long post in Hindi on X, Saxena said the National Green Tribunal in January 2023 constituted a high-level committee under the chairmanship of the Delhi lieutenant governor to clean and revive the Yamuna.

The high-level committee held five meetings and the work to clean the Yamuna was started on a war footing. The efforts started becoming visible and an 11-kilometre floodplain was gradually cleaned with the removal of encroachments. The quality of water also started improving, he said.

These encouraging results led the then chief minister Kejriwal to feel that the lieutenant governor might get credit for cleaning the Yamuna, a promise he could not fulfil in nine years, Saxena alleged.

He said the Kejriwal government filed a writ petition in the Supreme Court and in July 2023 obtained a stay on the National Green Tribunal's order for formation of the high-level committee.

"Consequently, the cleanliness work of five months came to a standstill. Although Kejriwal succeeded in stopping my efforts to clean the Yamuna, he did not do even a single work in the past 16 months for cleaning the river…," Saxena claimed.

Sharing newspaper clippings of the Yamuna's pollution, he added that the river's poor condition was self-evident.

"...it's clear how polluted the thinking and intentions of the persons who obstructed my efforts to make the Yamuna pollution free were," Saxena claimed.

Newspapers are full of reports of the plight of the Yamuna and the high court prohibited offering "arghya" in the river on Chhath due to the filth floating in it, Saxena added.

In a statement responding to the allegations, AAP said the lieutenant governor was misleading citizens daily on X. "He is now openly questioning the Supreme Court's orders, which does not behoove a person holding constitutional office." The lieutenant governor believes that he "knows better than country's biggest court", it said.

The Delhi government initiated all sewage projects while the lieutenant governor has no authority to sanction funds and yet claims credit for those works, AAP alleged.

He ordered the removal of a large amount of silt from the Najafgarh drain without any scientific approach that then settled in the Yamuna riverbed and led to a flood in 2023, the party charged. PTI VIT VIT SZM