70 years of filth can't be cleaned in 2 days: Kejriwal on Yamuna

New Delhi, Nov 18 (IANS) Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday said the Yamuna river that got dirty over the period of 70 years cannot be cleaned in two days.

"I had promised to the people during 2015 Delhi polls that it would be cleaned by the next elections. We have started work on war-footing.... I'm personally monitoring it," said Kejriwal said at a press conference here.

The Aam Aadmi Party convenor also announced a six-point plan to clean the Yamuna river to bathing standards by February 2025.

Referring to the 2015 assembly elections, Kejriwal said: "We had promised that before the next election, I will take a dip in the Yamuna and will also make the people of Delhi take a dip."

He said the national capital's sewer is dumped into Yamuna without treatment. "Currently, the sewage treatment capacity of Delhi is 650 MGD, which should be around 850 MGD. We are building new treatment plants for this," said Kejriwal.

"First, new sewer treatment plants are being built. Second, the capacity of existing plants is being increased, Third, the technology of old treatment plants is being changed," he said.

The Delhi government is constructing new sewage treatment plants and increasing the capacity of the existing ones as well as upgrading those, he added.

It is also planning to provide household connections in areas that have a sewer network. Earlier, the consumers had to get the connection themselves. The government has also started de-silting and rehabilitation of the sewer network.

"Specific targets have been set for each action point and I will personally monitor the progress," added the Delhi Chief Minister.