NEW DELHI: Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta, along with her Cabinet colleagues, participated in a cleanliness drive at Hathi Ghat near ITO on Sunday under the ‘Chalo Yamuna Abhiyan’, urging residents to stop dumping plastic, religious offerings and other waste along the riverbank.Gupta picked up garbage from the riverbank alongside youths, members of social organisations and local residents. In a post on X, she said thousands of Delhi residents had come together to clean 70 Yamuna ghats across the city, turning their devotion to the river into an act of service.During the drive, Gupta said she found large quantities of broken idols and other items used in worship discarded along the riverbank, along with plastic waste.“It is the responsibility of everyone who has faith in the Yamuna to keep it clean,” she said, calling on residents to maintain the cleanliness of the ghats and encourage others to do the same.In her social media post, the chief minister urged Delhi residents not to throw plastic, puja items or other waste on the Yamuna’s ghats and banks. She also called on citizens to become ‘Yamuna Pramukhs’ and make cleanliness a part of their everyday lives rather than limiting it to a campaign.The drive at Hathi Ghat was attended by Delhi Assembly Chief Whip and MLA Abhay Verma, along with youths, voluntary organisations and local citizens. BJP leaders and workers, as well as members of residents’ welfare associations, also participated.Gupta said the Delhi government was taking several steps to clean the Yamuna, including setting up decentralised sewage treatment plants to tap drain water flowing into the river and desilting drains.The campaign aims to strengthen public participation in efforts to clean the river and its banks, with the chief minister stressing that maintaining the ghats would require residents to take responsibility beyond organised cleanliness drives.(With agency inputs)
