ON FEBRUARY 20 last year, Rekha Gupta performed a Yamuna aarti at Vasudev Ghat as she began her tenure as Delhi’s chief minister, after the BJP returned to power in the national capital after 27 years. Cleaning of the Yamuna was a major poll promise.
A year later, she marked the anniversary with a visit to the Marghat Wale Hanuman temple in Yamuna Bazaar. The Yamuna again featured prominently as she presented her government’s report card on February 20 this year.
“Cleaning the Yamuna was a legacy problem,” she said. “When we took over, it was evident that the previous government did not pay much attention to the river.”
However, between those two moments lies a more complicated story.
Promises & performances
In her maiden budget speech last year, the chief minister announced the construction of 40 decentralised sewage treatment plants (STPs) for Rs500 crore to curb the flow of untreated sewage flowing into the river, a key reason for the pollution. She also promised upgrades to existing treatment facilities. Another Rs40 crore was earmarked for trash skimmers, weed harvesters and dredgers, and Rs200 crore for restoring the Najafgarh drain, which is among the Yamuna’s largest sources of contamination. Meanwhile, Water Minister Parvesh Sahib Singh Verma set a three-year timeline for restoring the river’s health.
“When we came to power, the (sewage treatment) capacity was around 700 million gallons per day. In the past one year, it has increased to around 800MGD,” said Gupta, while presenting the one-year report card. She added that 28 of 37 STPs had been upgraded and 22,000 metric tonnes of silt removed through massive desilting operations. Also, drone surveys and tapping of all drains had been completed, she said.
“Sewage treatment capacity has increased from 764MGD to 814MGD, 50MGD more. Several drains have been desilted. Work has been done on the ground,” said Yamuna activist Pankaj Kumar, who has worked on the river issue through his organisation Earth Warriors since 2019. “However, work has always been done, ever since the Yamuna Action Plan came into being in 1993. The real question is whether there has been an impact.”
Stench stays
Along the 22km stretch from Wazirabad to Okhla, where 22 drains empty into the river, the Yamuna looks much the same it has for years. At the mouth of the Najafgarh drain near the Signature Bridge, dark water continues to flow. Toxic foam floats in clusters at the Kalindi Kunj ghat. And at ITO ghat, a strong stench lingers, making it difficult to even stand 200m from the river.
It is close to sunset at ITO ghat. Worshippers come and go, immersing flowers, fruits and ashes into the river. Some leave behind plastic bags that carried the offerings; they drift slowly into the river water. A Delhi government board nearby reads: “It is a humble request, please do not immerse puja materials or havan offerings in the Yamuna river.” A weed harvester stands idle on the bank. Meanwhile, the stench hangs in the air.
“The situation hasn’t improved over the past year. You can see the machine there—it is lying idle,” said Ashok Upadhyaya, pointing to the weed harvester. He is CEO of Friends of Yamuna, a non-profit that works on restoring the river’s ecological and cultural significance. He runs cleanup drives at ITO ghat and conducts aarti in the evenings. Through a microphone, he urges visitors not to dump waste along the riverbank. “Ministers come, pick trash, with cameras around them,” he said.
Boatman Lambu, 70, has lived his entire life along the river at Kalindi Kunj ghat. “At one point, we would drink Yamuna’s water,” he recalled. “Now it smells so bad you can’t even breathe here.” Little has changed over the past year, he said, and that there is “more for the show” than real outcomes.
According to Bhim Singh Rawat of the South Asia Network on Dams, Rivers and People, the situation, rather than improving, has further deteriorated. “The river governance, which was already in a poor state, has worsened,” he said.
Gaps in data
Rawat points to the Delhi Pollution Control Board (DPCC), which publishes monthly analyses of the Yamuna’s water quality. “Since October, we have been seeing delays,” he said.
The reports for November and December were released late. January’s analysis is yet to be made public.
“Earlier, whatever the condition of the river, the DPCC would at least put the data out in public,” said Rawat. “If you are serious about cleaning the Yamuna, you have to begin by analysing what’s wrong, what interventions are being made and what outcomes they are producing. Instead, the data is being withheld.”
Notably, in her budget speech last year, the Delhi chief minister had announced 32 real-time water quality monitoring stations, “equipped with advanced sensors that will constantly monitor the contamination level in the water”.
Festival free pass
Kumar said another problem is what the government conveys to the public.
Ahead of the Chhath Puja, Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva had claimed that the river had seen a sharp drop in pollution and was clean enough for ritual sipping. “How is that possible? And if it was fit then, why is it dirty now?” asked Kumar.
Added Rawat: “In previous years, because pollution levels were so high, the High Court had banned Chhath celebrations on the Yamuna. This government not only allowed them, it actively facilitated them on an unprecedented scale. That raises serious questions about its intentions.”
During Chhath Puja last October, ahead of the Bihar Assembly elections, the flow of water was increased sharply from the upstream Hathnikund Barrage and the government sprayed large quantities of defoaming agents to curb the toxic froth.
The flow into the Yamuna rose from about 10 cubic metres per second (cumecs) on the evening of October 20 to over 260 cumecs by the following night, as per reports. Defoaming, which usually lasts about two weeks around Chhath, continued for nearly two months.
“We were spraying chemicals for two months during Chhath,” said boatman Lambu, pointing towards his boats, now lying idle.
“And it wasn’t the entire river,” added Kumar. “Just a few metres along the ghats. Large quantities of defoamers were sprayed. These chemicals take time to break down. Until then, the residue floats on the surface, blocking oxygen exchange and harming aquatic life.”
The government should have said that the measures were undertaken specifically for Chhath, rather than projecting them as signs of overall improvement in the Yamuna, said Kumar. “The intent seems to be to show the public that something is being done, rather than to actually fix the problem,” he said.
Notably, during Chhath last year, an artificial pond filled with water from the Ganga was created for VVIPs to perform rituals, indicating that despite large-scale interventions, the Yamuna remained unfit for direct use.
Meanwhile, in January, the river saw yet another spike in ammonia levels, pushing parts of the city towards a water crisis. At least six water treatment plants were forced to temporarily shut down, triggering supply disruptions across Delhi. The episode underscored the city’s vulnerability: the Yamuna remains a major source of Delhi’s drinking water, and meets nearly 40 per cent of its total water demand.
Reviving a river
Even as the river remains in a dire state, the government has planned a Rs20-crore Yamuna cruise project, upstream of the Wazirabad Barrage between Sonia Vihar and Jagatpur.
However, during the non-monsoon months from October to June, the flow in the Yamuna drops drastically. “In several stretches, the depth falls to less than a metre. A cruise vessel requires far more depth to operate,” said Rawat.
“Water is not a source of entertainment,” added Upadhyaya. “Instead of launching a cruise, the priority should be ensuring that people do not fall sick because of polluted water.”
River rejuvenation isn’t being seen from a holistic, sustainable way, observed Rawat. “Rather, projects such as the river cruise, along with the celebrations and gaps in the data, are adversely impacting the Yamuna,” he said.
Yet another pitch
While presenting the one-year report card, Gupta said that the government will construct 12 new sewage treatment plants at an estimated cost of Rs7,200 crore, noting that the government aims to increase the city’s total sewage treatment capacity to 1,500MGD.
She further said major overhauls have been planned for the drains, and that the Delhi government is in talks with neighbouring states to increase the flow in the Yamuna.
Meanwhile, in a reply in the Rajya Sabha in February, the ministry of Jal Shakti, department of water resources, river development and Ganga rejuvenation, noted, “A total expenditure of Rs6,151.28 crore has been incurred for pollution abatement and cleaning of the Yamuna river in Delhi during the last five years, from 2020-2021 to 2024-2025.”
Budgets have been spent in the past, and interventions done. “But you also need to see the outcome you are getting, and share the same with the public in the form of data,” said Rawat.
The BJP came to power in Delhi with cleaning the Yamuna as one of its central promises. Yet, recent statements suggest that the timeline for restoration remains inconsistent.
Addressing the inauguration of projects in Delhi worth Rs1,816 crore with a large part aimed at rejuvenating the river, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said in October that Prime Minister Narendra Modi “has promised that the work to clean the Yamuna will be completed before the Lok Sabha elections in 2029”. He added that “under the PM’s leadership, a plan to clean the Yamuna up to Prayagraj within the next seven months has been prepared”.
The Yamuna, meanwhile, waits—frothy, foul yet flowing.