The opposition criticized the Aam Aadmi Party, led by Arvind Kejriwal, for the worsening conditions in Delhi. Both the BJP and Congress held Kejriwal’s government accountable for the city’s poor air and water quality. Delhi BJP President Virendra Sachdeva remarked that due to the negligence of Kejriwal’s administration, which is entangled in power struggles and corruption, Delhi is grappling with severe pollution. While toxic particles contaminate the air, the waters of the Yamuna have also become dangerously polluted.
Sachdeva highlighted that Delhi residents still recall Kejriwal’s 2020 campaign promise, where he repeatedly mentioned taking a dip in the Yamuna with his cabinet before the 2025 elections. He criticized Kejriwal for abandoning this promise, stating that the river’s water has become so polluted that merely touching it is now hazardous, potentially causing skin diseases. He attributed this neglect to Kejriwal’s involvement in corruption.
The BJP President further noted that while the Yamuna enters Delhi at Palla from Haryana with clean, drinkable water, it turns highly toxic by the time it exits the city at Kalindi Kunj and flows towards Uttar Pradesh. During its 39-kilometer stretch from Palla to Okhla, over 170 million gallons of untreated sewage are dumped into the river daily. Of the 18 drains in Delhi, including major ones like Najafgarh and Shahdara, 12 discharge untreated sewage directly into the Yamuna, turning it from a source of life into a contaminated river.
Sachdeva also pointed out that every year, foaming occurs in the Yamuna due to the presence of untreated sewage containing high levels of phosphates and surfactants, worsened by the changing weather. He criticized both Kejriwal’s and Atishi Marlena’s administrations for failing to address this issue, particularly the lack of sewage treatment plants (STPs) in Delhi. As a result, there is a severe shortage of functional STPs, and according to the Delhi Pollution Control Committee’s (DPCC) August 2024 report, 22 out of 37 STPs managed by the Delhi Jal Board do not meet sanitation standards.
Similarly Delhi Congress President Devender Yadav criticized the AAP government for its repeated announcements of action plans whenever Delhi’s air becomes toxic and the water polluted, but noted that these delayed plans rarely work, leaving people to suffer in silence from the poor air and water quality. He stated that the Yamuna has turned into a river of filth, and while the AAP and BJP engage in blame games, the real victims are children, the elderly, and the general public, as AAP’s Chief Minister and ministers remain indifferent to their suffering.
Yadav recalled that former CM Kejriwal had announced a six-point action plan on November 19, 2021, to clean the Yamuna by February 2025. This plan included promises to improve the city’s sewage treatment capacity, clean major drains, and de-silt stormwater drains, and Kejriwal had even pledged to take a dip in the Yamuna himself. However, the 2024 monsoon season exposed the failure of these promises, as the city faced severe waterlogging, leading to over 40 deaths from mishaps and electrocution.