India News | Kejriwal Can't Escape Sin of Disrespecting People's Faith: Gajendra Shekhawat on Yamuna Pollution

New Delhi, Nov 9 (PTI) BJP leader and Union Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat on Tuesday hit out at Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal over the pollution in the Yamuna river and said he cannot escape the "sin of disrespecting the faith of the people".

Pictures and videos showing devotees offering prayers in the Yamuna on the occasion of Chhath Puja on Monday with toxic foam floating on the surface of the river have triggered a political slugfest between the ruling AAP and the BJP in Delhi.

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While the BJP alleged that the AAP government did not allow Chhath celebrations on the Yamuna banks to hide the "pathetic" state of the river, the AAP's Gopal Rai and Raghav Chadha have blamed the governments in Uttar Pradesh and Haryana for the frothing in the river.

On Tuesday, Shekhawat said, "Both Kejriwal and the Delhi government are running away from their responsibility of cleaning the Yamuna river. It is unfortunate that rather than cleaning the river, they are asking women not to celebrate Chhath (on its banks). Kejriwal is disrespecting the voters of Delhi."

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Responding to the AAP government's allegation that polluted water flows into the Yamuna river from other states, the Union Jal Shakti minister said it was a misrepresentation of facts.

"Kejriwal should rise to the challenge and not indulge in futile blame-shifting."

"It is unfortunate and painful that at the time of the Chhath festival the Yamuna is polluted. Kejriwal cannot run escape from this sin of disrespecting the faith of the people," he said.

Referring to the financial aid given to the Delhi government under the 'Namami Gange' programme to tackle pollution in the Yamuna, Shekhawat said the assistance has gone towards 13 sewage treatment projects of about 1385 million litres per day capacity involving an investment of Rs 2,419 crore.

Instead of working towards completing these projects, the Delhi government, unfortunately, has misplaced priorities, he claimed.

The 22-kilometre stretch of the Yamuna between Wazirabad and Okhla, which is less than 2 per cent of its length of 1,370 kilometres from Yamunotri to Allahabad, accounts for around 80 per cent of the pollution load in the river.

The presence of phosphates and surfactants in untreated sewage from Delhi, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh is a major reason behind frothing in the river, according to experts.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)