No Yamuna authority two years after panel report

There is no word about the Yamuna River Development Authority (YRDA) two years after a high-powered committee submitted a report on its formation – for among other issues, monitoring various projects under the Yamuna Action Plan for stemming of pollution of the river.

A high-powered committee, headed by the lieutenant governor, had suggested an operational plan for the rejuvenation of the Delhi stretch of the river to the central cabinet secretariat way back on September 16, 2010.

The committee had recommended steps for setting up of the YRDA and implementation of projects, including the construction of an upstream storage, interceptor sewer and expansion of the existing sewage treatment capacity and sewerage network.

The panel had also recommended a two-tier statutory framework comprising national- and state-level authorities.

A reply to a question in December 2011 of Jai Prakash Agarwal, Congress MP from Delhi, mentioned in Parliament: "The Yamuna River Development Authority has been constituted under the chairmanship of lieutenant governor, Delhi."

But even the lieutenant governor's office is unaware of it and claimed no such development has taken place.

Agarwal too said he is unaware of any development. "I have not heard anything after that (reply). I am pursuing the matter and written to the Ministry of Water Resources and the LG House," he told HT.