Jairam Ramesh, minister for environment and forests, has asked Delhi and Haryana to stop passng the buck on taking responsibility for cleaning up the Yamuna.
The Yamuna has already seen thousands of crores of rupees being spent in “attempts to clean up,” but remains as polluted as before.
Most of the money, critics say, has been siphoned off by officials of organizations like the Delhi Industrial Development Corporation (DSIDC) and others who implemented the various ‘clean up’ programs.
Most of the sewerage treatment plants, for example, are disfunctional after being put up at a cost of hundreds of crores of rupees.
Jairam said December 2012 is the final date for coming clean. “I want the passing of the buck to stop,” he said, looking at officials of the Haryana State Pollution Control Board. “No more untreated sewerage will be passed into Yamuna after December 2012,” he said.
Jairam has called for a meeting of both Delhi and Haryana officials on March 28 to ‘knock heads together.’
