"The government has taken a big decision to provide relief to the people of Delhi from the outstanding water bills. Late fee (late payment surcharge) on outstanding water bills will be waived 100 per cent till December 31, 2022," Kejriwal said in a series of tweets in Hindi.
The Chief Minister also announced that with the aim of reducing the pollution of the Yamuna river by almost 30%, 85 million gallons of sewage from Keshopur and Najafgarh will be cleaned before it flows into the Najafgarh drain.
"Sewage pumping stations of 55 MGD cumulative capacity will be built on Badli, Nigam Bodh and Mori Gate drain. The dirty water of these drains will not go into the Yamuna," he said.
Delhi accounts for only 2% of the stretch of the Yamuna river but contributes to 80% of the river pollution. The river carries untreated or semi-treated industrial effluents and sewage. Between Wazirabad and Okhla, twenty-two drains carrying domestic wastewater and industrial effluent enter the Yamuna.
Recently, the Delhi Jal Board also raised an SOS due the rising levels of ammonia in the waters of Yamuna. Ammonia levels have fluctuated up to five times above the treatable limit of 0.9ppm.
In November last year, the Chief Minister gave a six-point action plan to clean the Yamuna river by 2025 and even announced that he will himself take a dip in the Yamuna river before the next assembly elections of the union territory.
The action plan included the construction of new sewage treatment plants (STPs), expanding existing STP capacity, and implementing new technologies to ensure that pollutants do not enter the Yamuna river.
