Central and Delhi Government Agree for SPV for Yamuna
The Union Water Resources Minister Uma Bharti and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal have agreed to set-up a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) for the cleaning-up and rejuvenation of River Yamuna.
In a meeting between the Union Minister and the Chief Minister held in New Delhi, it has been agreed to prepare a blueprint for this purpose during the next 45 days. Delhi’s Minister-in-charge for Water, Kapil Mishra and senior officials of concerned departments from Central and Delhi Governments were also present at this meeting.
In the meeting, the Union Water Resources Minister accepted the Delhi Chief Minister’s request of convening a joint meeting soon with Union Urban Development Minister Shri M Venkaiah Naidu and Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Shri Nitin Gadkari.
The Chief Minister expressed the view that such a meeting is important since all the concerned Ministries/ Departments would have to work together for cleaning the historic river and reviving its past glory. Uma Bharti agreed to take up the matter with the concerned Ministers and explore the possibility of this meeting.
Issues related to beautification of the Yamuna River Front were also discussed in the recent meeting. The two sides have said to have expressed confidence that a joint effort will lead to a clean Yamuna, an issue which has now been pending since decades.
Image by C Mitchell via Flickr
Shri Arvind Kejriwal
Chief Minister of Delhi
3rd Level A-Wing, Delhi Secretariat,
I.P. Estate, New Delhi-110001
Sub : ” PUSHPANJALI PRAWAHA KALASH ”
Esteemed Sir,
Greetings
Amid Your busy schedules, we are thankful that Your Good Self have spared few moments on the subject.
We take this opportunity to introduce YFF as a Registered Social Welfare Organization working on prevention of pollution in the major rivers as envisaged in the Article 51 -A(g) & 21 of the constitution of India.
It goes without saying that ours is highly religious and spiritual country.. In Delhi alone it takes 42000 Kg’s of flowers every day for people to convey their obeisance, gratitude, devotion, adoration, reverence, veneration etc to Gods as well as to their dear departed.
Then with the flowers comes statue figures of deities, paper, plastic, coconut husks etc which are thrown into the Rivers. Environmental damage caused is so high that NGT Chairperson Hon’ble Justice Swatanter Kumar [on 13th January, 2015] HAD TO issue a JUDGMENT imposing a fine of Rs.5000/- for throwing Puja Items into YAMUNA River.
The 42,000 kg’s of flowers that enter Delhi everyday adds up to.12 lac 60 thousand kg’s in a month.In addition to this Pooja materials such as derelict idols and images of Gods and Goddess, chunri, agarbathi and dhoop packets,etc.are thrown into the River’s. This is one Major factor contributing to about 30% of damage by polluting and choking of Yamuna and other rivers .
Youth Fraternity Foundation (YFF) has been working for the cause of Prevention & Controlling this pollution for the last ten years in various parts of India. In order to reduce the pollution of rivers, YFF has formulated a project ‘Pushpanjali Parwaha Kalash’ which consists of (a) to collect flowers and other worship- material from Temples, Mosques, Churches, Gurudwara’s, shops, colonies; and, (b) to send this material to the processing site where it is sorted out in different piles like paper, flowers, plastic, coconut husks, etc. The biodegradable waste is turned into compost and the rest is recycled.
During Navratra’s [October] this situation is most intense during which 1.2 Lakh people discard 8.5Lakh Kilogrammes of Samagries into the River’s..With your support and cooperation, we would like to take Pushpanjali Parwaha Kalash project to various parts in Delhi for gathering Puja samagri heading to the YAMUNA River. This will also generate employment for approx. 800 people, most of whom are from vulnerable and disadvantaged sections from all over Delhi.
In light of the Judgement and imposition of the Huge Fine, the Governing body at YFF feels Pushpanjali Parwaha Kalash Project or activity can be Your ideal gift for Your dear Delhites and at an ideal occasion. In this regard YFF humbly requests Your Good Self to spare a few minutes for further process of this project.
Yours Sincerely,
Gopi Dutt Aakash [ President :. YFF INDIA ]