Yamuna pollution: Delhi L-G writes to Haryana CM on lack of progress in setting up sewage treatment plants

New Delhi, February 7

The Irrigation department in Haryana has not made any “substantial progress” in setting up plants to treat sewage discharged into the Najafgarh drain, Delhi Lt Governor VK Saxena said in a letter to Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar.

Saxena also requested a meeting with Khattar in the letter dated February 2.

“The L-G has reminded the Haryana chief minister that despite ‘assurances’ from the Irrigation department of his government to set up STPs (sewage treatment plants) to treat the sewage before being discharged into Najafgarh drain, there has not been any substantial progress so far,” the L-G Office said in a statement.

Saxena heads a high-level committee constituted by the National Green Tribunal for corrective measures to tackle pollution in the Yamuna.

In the letter, Saxena also urged Khattar to “urgently” convene a meeting between Delhi and Haryana to find a sustainable solution to the Yamuna pollution, the statement added.

Saxena referred to his earlier telephonic discussions with Khattar over the treatment at Palam Vihar Drain (L1), Dharampur Drain (L2) and Badshahpur Drain (L3) that carry silt, untreated sewage and industrial waste into the Najafgarh drain from Haryana.

Calling for “collective action” by the two states, Saxena noted that the toxic discharge from Najafgarh drain into the Yamuna not only has severe health ramifications for people in Delhi-NCR but also those downstream in Haryana and Uttar Pradesh.

Saxena had raised the Yamuna pollution issue during the North Zonal Council Meeting chaired by Union Home minister Amit Shah in Jaipur last July.

The Union Home secretary convened a follow-up meeting on July 26 during which the Haryana Irrigation department gave assurrances to set up sewage treatment plants to ensure 100 per cent treatment of sewage before their discharge into the Najafgarh drain, the statement added.