Delhi BJP leader Anil Gupta on Thursday took a ritual sip (aachman) of the water from the Yamuna, claiming the river is on the road to recovery from its heavily polluted State because of the efforts of the party’s Government in the last eight months.
Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva, who had taken a dip in the Yamuna in October last year to register his protest against alleged “apathy” of the then AAP Government over pollution in Yamuna, claimed that the water of the river was almost “normal” now.
“On October 25, 2024, when I took a dip in the Yamuna at the ITO ghat to expose its miserable condition, I had to be hospitalised,” he said.
It is the result of the eight-month-old BJP Government’s committed efforts under Chief Minister Rekha Gupta to clean the Yamuna that the river water is not only fit for taking a dip, but also fit enough for aachman, he said.
“The Yamuna water now has no foul smell, the dissolved oxygen level is between 4.5 and 5.5, and the pH level is 7.5 — which is close to normal,” he added.
Gupta is a Delhi BJP spokesperson who holds a doctorate degree in environmental sciences.
“I performed aachman at least half a dozen times at various locations along the Yamuna, including ITO Ghat, Vasudev Ghat and Kalindi Kunj, and various chemical indicators of the river are normal now,” he said.
Days before the Chhath festival, Gupta appeared before TV cameras, sipping the Yamuna water and giving online water quality monitoring data to prove the river’s recovery.
