Delhi Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena on Thursday launched an intensive campaign to clean the Yamuna floodplains as part of a mega drive to rejuvenate the river.
He also inducted a 94-member company of the territorial army into the Yamuna cleaning operations. The personnel will ensure that the cleaned stretches of the floodplains do not get encroached upon again.
The territorial army, provided by the National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG), will take over the operations from Friday. "We will ensure that there is a visible change in the river in the next six months. One of the major sources of pollution in the river is drains, particularly the Najafgarh drain. We have tapped 13 major drains and several smaller ones too. We are already getting some results,” the LG said.
He said a conveyor belt will be installed to remove the garbage floating in the river, and an innovative technique will be used to reduce the biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) of the river. "The agencies will also install a floating boom and conveyor system at the Qudsia Regulator floodplain to collect and remove the garbage from the river," officials said.
