New Delhi: The Indian Navy’s Barasingha boat was brought to clean Yamuna in Delhi, but got trapped in the same dirt it was meant to clean.
Lieutenant Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena’s request for such a vessel to clean the river channel, routed through the Irrigation and Flood Control and Tourism Departments, was denied by then-Delhi minister Manish Sisodia, according to L-G House representatives.
L-G House official said, “The boat has been brought in to clean the Yamuna, monitor its rejuvenation and explore the possibility of utilising the clean channel as an inland waterway for transport.”
The boat was unloaded on the river’s banks at Signature Bridge three days ago; it was scheduled to dock at the Delhi Boat Club at the Chandgi Ram Akhada near Civil Lines. Because of legacy debris and silt that have accumulated in the water body over many years, the Yamuna is unable to provide a uniform depth of 2 metres, and hence the ship has been unable to set sail.
The source said, “The problem is that the boat needs a certain depth to be able to turn and manoeuvre. Yamuna, because of the silt and the waste that has been gathering on the river bed for years, is not even 2 metres deep at certain points, which is what the boat needs for mobility.”
The Union Minister for Road Transport, Highways, and Shipping, Nitin Gadkari, announced in 2014 that his ministry was considering dredging the Yamuna and using the dirt extracted from the riverbed for infrastructure projects.
The NGT has formed a High-Level Committee, chaired by the L-G, to closely monitor the cleaning of the Yamuna in Delhi.
