Last Updated: November 20, 2023, 21:34 IST
Visuals from Yamuna river in New Delhi during Chhath Puja. (X)
LG Saxena said devotees were once again forced to stand in knee-deep toxins and pollutants to perform puja during Chhath in Delhi
As Chhath festivities concluded across India on Monday, Delhi Lieutenant-Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena slammed the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government for not cleaning the Yamuna River as toxic foam continued to float on the surface of the water.
Questioning why the Delhi government failed to clean Yamuna over the years, Saxena said devotees were once again forced to stand in knee-deep toxins and pollutants to perform puja during Chhath.
“Chhath festival concluded today with Arghya offered to Dinanath Lord Bhaskar. Mother Yamuna was once again left dirty and polluted. Devotees were once again forced to offer prayers amidst silt, debris and rot. Offering Arghya in the river was prohibited but Yamuna did not become clean,” Saxena wrote on X.
दीनानाथ भगवान भास्कर को अर्घ्य के साथ छठ महपर्व आज संपन्न हुआ।छठी मईया विदा हुईं यमुना मईया एक बार फिर कलुषित-प्रदूषित ही छूट गयीं।व्रती-श्रद्धालु एक बार फिर गाद-मलबे और सड़ांघ मे पूजा अर्चना के लिये मजबूर हुये।नदी में जा कर अर्घ्य अर्पण वर्जित हो गया पर यमुना साफ नहीं हुई।। pic.twitter.com/xb5I8Pem34— LG Delhi (@LtGovDelhi) November 20, 2023
“Year after year. One promise after another. Froth, sewer, and effluent remain unchecked. The floodplains get turned into dump yards and open toilets. COD/BOD, Coliform, E Coli all markers damn the river,” the LG added.
“Every Chatth, every time ammonia levels get high, every flood and every water shortage due to low levels of water in reservoirs, there ensues a blame game. All and sundry are blamed but none take the blame for the inaction over the years,” added the LG in his series of X posts.
Earlier in the day, Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) leader Shehzad Poonawalla also attacked Arvind Kejriwal adding that he failed to fulfil his promise of making Yamuna clean.
BJP accused AAP of spending thousands of crores given by the Centre on advertisements or “doing corruption” instead of cleaning Yamuna.
Lakhs of men and women across India paid tributes to the rising sun on Monday as part of Chhath. Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal also offered prayers on the occasion of Chhath Puja in his constituency on Sunday.
Delhi Revenue Minister Atishi earlier said that the government has built over 1,000 Chhath ghats across Delhi so that anyone in the city can celebrate the Chhath festival.
