Editorial: Muddied, muddled bid to clean Yamuna

In the claims and counterclaims of the ruling BJP and opposition AAP in Delhi over the cleaning of the Yamuna river, it is the truth that is getting polluted, muddying healthy democratic discourse. The BJP has mastered the art of making mountains of publicity over molehills of work. Credibility suffers when the Chief Minister is perceived to be making over-the-top claims and is always surrounded by a crew of videographers and photographers. As a responsible opposition party, AAP should challenge questionable claims but should also go beyond rhetoric and present credible evidence in its support. AAP seems to be doing what the BJP did far more effectively - given its social media power - when the latter was in the opposition.

On the other hand, the media, especially the Delhi media, appears to be failing in following the “look out the window” principle taught to every rookie reporter. That is, “If someone says it’s raining and another person says it’s dry, it’s not your job to quote them both. It’s your job to look out the window and find out which is true.” This fact-checking and verification is all the more important in the age of AI and deep fake misinformation.

Cleaning the Yamuna was one of the issues that the BJP fought the Delhi Assembly election on. It did resonate with the voters. After winning elections, the party set out earnestly to fulfil the promise with the blessing of the Union government and active support of the LG’s office, which the AAP government was deprived of. A slew of initiatives was revealed, including Home Minister Amit Shah launching projects worth Rs 1,816 crore and the LG’s office announcing a four-pronged strategy. The National Mission for Clean Ganga, Ministry of Jal Shakti, and the Delhi Government had allocated Rs 140 crore for Yamuna cleaning since January, out of which Rs 108.31 crore have been spent by July.

But cleaning and rejuvenating rivers and sustaining them is a complex and time-consuming activity, and not amenable to quick-fix solutions that the BJP is prone to propagate to win votes. The party had made similar promises regarding the cleaning of the River Ganga. Yamuna is one of the most contaminated rivers in the country, as untreated or partially treated sewage and industrial effluents are released into it. Though only two per cent of the interstate river flows through the city, the sprawling metropolis contributes to 80 per cent of the river’s pollution.

As experts point out, merely building sewage treatment infrastructure would not solve the problem if concomitant governance issues are not resolved. Often, the sewage treatment plants do not meet the effluent standards. Secondly, the current interception and cleaning strategy relating to Najafgarh and Shahdara drains, which carry roughly 84 per cent of the city's sewage due to a lack of adequate sewage treatment, is clearly not effective. It therefore needs to be revisited, and overhauled if necessary, especially to address the issue of fragmented governance between multiple agencies and enforcement deficiencies.

When it comes to national issues, in this case, the execution of plans under the National River Conservation Plan, political parties must refrain from petty politicking for electoral gains. Secondly, high-visibility short-term steps such as riverfront beautification cannot be substitute to the more difficult work, the actual cleaning, which involves reducing dissolved solids and pollutants and increasing dissolved oxygen. Lastly, transparency and oversight by experts are strongly recommended.