Later, he held a meeting with officials to assess the progress of the cleanup effort and said, "All drains in Delhi will be connected to sewage treatment plants (STPs) and their capacity will be increased to prevent untreated wastewater from flowing into the river"

Cleaning the Yamuna was one of the key promises made by the BJP for the recently-concluded Delhi Assembly polls

He assured people that complaints related to sewage treatment would be addressed and all STPs are expected to be installed within two years

"In 2023, Delhi faced a flood. Previously, all the floodgates were closed, but now they have been repaired and raised to prevent future flooding," the minister said

"Our biggest commitment is to completely clean and restore the Yamuna. As of now, 1,300 metric tonnes of garbage have been removed in the last 10 days," Verma said

Discussing future initiatives, Verma said common treatment plants would be installed in industrial areas to ensure proper disposal of chemical waste

Moreover, works to repair and increase the height of security walls at the ITO Barrage gates are underway to prevent flooding, the minister said, adding special drives are also being conducted to clean the riverbanks and develop green zones

"We have instructed the Delhi Development Authority to develop the Yamuna Riverfront that would transform the riverbank into a tourism and cultural hub," Verma said

He claimed that in the past decade, no significant work had been done to clean the river, "not even on paper"