Union Home Minister Amit Shah chairs a meeting on the cleaning of Yamuna, drinking water, and sewage system in Delhi, in New Delhi on May 22, 2025
| Photo Credit: ANI

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday (May 22, 2025) called for a holistic and long-term strategy to clean the Yamuna river, ensure safe drinking water, and revamp Delhi’s sewage and drainage systems.

Speaking at a high-level review meeting attended by Union Ministers Manohar Lal Khattar and C.R. Patil, Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta, and senior officials, Mr. Shah stressed that the Yamuna is not just a river but also a symbol of faith, and its cleanliness is a priority for the BJP government.

Mr. Shah directed the Ministry of Jal Shakti to develop a Standard Operating Procedure for all Sewage Treatment Plants to ensure consistency in their quality, maintenance, and discharge. He also said that these standards should be shared with all States for broader adoption.

Twenty-year vision

He emphasised that all planning related to the Yamuna, drinking water, and drainage must be done with a 20-year horizon. Highlighting the crucial role of the Delhi Jal Board (DJB), Mr. Shah called for urgent steps to fill all vacant posts and strengthen institutional capacity.

The Home Minister underlined the need to boost water distribution efficiency, reduce pipeline leakages, and use world-class technology for desilting drains. “Effective water management is essential for ensuring a reliable drinking water supply across the city,” he said.

Shocking pollution

The Delhi stretch of the Yamuna remains one of the most polluted river segments in the country. Despite multiple court orders, successive governments have failed to reverse the damage.

Cleaning the Yamuna was a key promise made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi ahead of the Delhi Assembly election, which the BJP won after 27 years. Notably, Mr. Modi opened his victory speech on February 8 with “Yamuna Maiya ki Jai”, underscoring the symbolic importance of the river.

This month’s report by the Delhi Pollution Control Committee revealed that the Yamuna fails to meet even the minimum bathing standards at most locations in Delhi.

The concentration of faecal coliform – microbes from human and animal excreta – was found to be alarmingly high. While the Central Pollution Control Board recommends a safe bathing limit of 500 MPN/100 ml, the level at Asgarpur, where the Yamuna exits Delhi, was recorded at 23,00,000 MPN/100 ml, which is 4,600 times above the desired limit.

In contrast, the pollution level at Palla, where the river enters Delhi from Haryana, was 1,700 MPN/100 ml, slightly above the ideal, but within the maximum permissible limit of 2,500 MPN/100 ml.