Chandigarh, October 16 - In view of the upcoming Chhath Puja festival, the Haryana Government has intensified its preparations to ensure cleanliness and safety of the Yamuna.
Chief Secretary Shri Anurag Rastogi, while chairing a high-level meeting here today, directed to make coordination between departments more effective, implement strict pollution control measures and maintain ecosystem balance. The government's objective is to ensure that a clean and safe environment is provided to the devotees worshipping on the banks of Yamuna and its tributaries.
The Chief Secretary directed to ensure 24-hour monitoring of all Sewage Treatment Plants (STPs) and Common Effluent Treatment Plants (CETPs) located in the Yamuna Catchment Area. He ordered all the executive engineers to personally monitor the operation of these plants till October 28, 2025 so that any malfunction can be rectified immediately and all the plants should function as per the prescribed environmental standards.
Junior engineers and sub-divisional engineers have been deployed for continuous monitoring, while the Haryana State Pollution Control Board has been directed to form a special flying squad and conduct surprise inspections. He also said that a list of all the plants under construction and functioning should be prepared and a future action plan should be made and timely completion of the projects should be ensured.
Shri Anurag Rastogi said that the state government is committed to keeping the Yamuna clean and pollution-free. He said that a clean river system is not only a necessity of the environment, but also a shared responsibility of the society. Chhath Puja is an auspicious occasion to strengthen collective efforts in this direction.
The Chief Secretary directed the Public Health Engineering Department, Haryana Urban Development Authority, Haryana State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation, Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority, Urban Habitat Department and Haryana State Pollution Control Board to identify the industrial units which are likely to discharge pollutants into the river or its tributaries. Also, to keep a close watch on their operation. He also said that strict action should be taken immediately if any manipulation of the operation or monitoring data is found.
He directed that the Urban Local Bodies Department and Irrigation Department should ensure immediate cleaning of solid waste from the drains and river banks to ensure cleanliness of the river banks during Chhath Puja. In addition, the Municipal Corporations have been asked to deploy sufficient manpower and machinery to ensure cleanliness and easy access of the valleys and river banks during the Chhath festival.
A joint enforcement drive will be launched by the Police, Municipal Corporation, Public Health and Engineering Department and Development and Panchayat Department for the next 15 days to prevent any kind of sewage or tanker waste from being illegally dumped into the Yamuna. The Public Health and Engineering Department has been directed to lift the sewage through tankers as per the available capacity and take it to the STP for treatment. The concerned Deputy Commissioner and Sub-Divisional Magistrate will monitor this work.
The Chief Secretary also reviewed the progress of the ongoing STP projects in the Yamuna catchment area. He said that the projects with a capacity of 107 MLD will be completed by March 2027.
It was also informed in the meeting that six projects under treated waste water irrigation are in progress at Behrampur, Kanheli, Karnal, Hekat Lagar, Shiv Colony and Jatal Road (Panipat) with a combined treatment capacity of 158 MLD. These projects, which are being built at a cost of about Rs. 253 crore, have been completed from 35% to 90%. Fencing work is being done on 364 bridges across the state to protect the Yamuna and its tributaries. The maximum number of these is in Sirsa (74), Kurukshetra (73), Charkhi Dadri (50) and Kaithal (37) districts. Similarly, 79 ghats have been identified in 19 areas, out of which 40 ghats have been upgraded. While 39 new ghats are being developed. Work is in progress in Hisar, Karnal, Yamunanagar and Sirsa specifically to provide clean and safe facilities to the devotees during Chhath Parva.
The meeting was attended by Additional Chief Secretary, Environment, Forest and Wildlife Department Mr. Sudhir Rajpal, Chairman, Haryana State Pollution Control Board Mr. Vineet Garg and Additional Chief Secretary, Irrigation and Water Resources Department Mr. Anurag Agarwal, while Deputy Commissioners of all the districts participated in the meeting through video conferencing.