Shah lists key steps for Yamuna's revival plan

Multi-pronged action plan

- Alok KN Mishra

Union home minister Amit Shah on Friday called for coordinated action by Delhi, Haryana, and Uttar Pradesh to rejuvenate the Yamuna, as he chaired a high-level review meeting with top officials and Delhi chief minister Rekha Gupta. Emphasising urgency, Shah asked all three states to ensure transparency in monitoring sewage treatment plants (STPs) and to implement third-party quality checks of water discharged into the river.

Shah laid out a detailed roadmap that spanned upgrading outdated STP infrastructure, monitoring industrial and dairy waste, cracking down on illegal borewells, promoting rainwater harvesting, and increasing ecological flow (e-flow) in the river to restore its health.

“All three states - Haryana, Delhi, and Uttar Pradesh - must work together. There should be regularity and transparency in testing of the water flowing out of STPs, and third-party quality testing should be conducted,” Shah said at the meeting, according to an official statement.