The Hindu : New Delhi News : Delhi Government accused of failure to clean the Yamuna

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Wednesday, Oct 11, 2006
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Delhi Government accused of failure to clean the Yamuna

Staff Reporter

Former Minister demands probe into the whole matter

NEW DELHI: Senior BJP leader and former Union Minister Vijay Goel on Tuesday met Union Water Resources Minister Saiffudin Soz and accused the Delhi Government as well as the Delhi Jal Board of failure to clean the Yamuna despite having pumped hundreds of crores of rupees into the project and demanded a probe into the whole matter.

In a memorandum submitted to Mr. Soz, the BJP leader said massive bungling had taken place over the years and the Delhi Government and the Jal Board had gobbled up huge amounts without any tangible results.

"The Yamuna continues to be in a poor condition and the situation is getting worse with each passing day,'' he added.

Expressing concern at the deteriorating condition of river Yamuna, Mr. Goel said it was unfortunate that despite having spent huge amounts the outcome had been zero. Urging Mr. Soz to undertake a visit to witness for himself the poor condition of the river, Mr. Goel said what was even more shocking was that both the Delhi Government and the Jal Board had filed contradictory affidavits before the Supreme Court in an attempt to mislead the court.

"The Delhi Government has been issuing advertisements about an improved environment and had even taken up the drama of `Shram Daan' for a few years but now even that symbolic exercise is not undertaken for some strange reason. ," he said.

Mr. Soz promised to take up the matter with the Delhi Government and also summon a meeting of the concerned agencies so that effective action was undertaken to save the river from dying.

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