India’s Home Minister Amit Shah Demands Urgent Action on Yamuna Rejuvenation Plan in High-Level Review

India’s Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation, Amit Shah, chaired a high-level review meeting in New Delhi on Friday to assess and accelerate efforts to rejuvenate the Yamuna River—one of South Asia’s most polluted waterways.

Representational Image: AmitShah on X

Joined by Union Ministers Manohar Lal (Housing & Urban Affairs), C.R. Patil (Jal Shakti), and Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta, Shah emphasized a multi-pronged approach that places accountability, infrastructure, and inter-state coordination at the core of India’s strategy to revive the heavily degraded river system.

The Yamuna, a tributary of the Ganges, flows through Delhi and several other Indian states, sustaining millions. It is also a focal point of environmental concern due to decades of untreated sewage, industrial discharge, and shrinking flow.

At the meeting, Shah called on the Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) to act with urgency and curb pollution from industrial sources. He pointed out that untreated chemicals from neighboring states are also contaminating the Yamuna and urged Haryana, Delhi, and Uttar Pradesh to coordinate efforts, including sharing real-time data and inspection protocols.

Shah specifically focused on reducing Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD) levels in two of Delhi’s largest polluting drains—Najafgarh and Shahdara. He ordered immediate drone-based surveys to assess inflow and detect blockages or illegal discharges.

A central directive was the expansion of sewage treatment capacity in the national capital. Shah set a target to increase Delhi’s STP (Sewage Treatment Plant) capacity to 1,500 MGD (million gallons per day) by 2028 and recommended third-party water quality audits to ensure transparency in treated water discharge.

He also urged that the treated water from the Okhla STP be diverted downstream to maintain a healthy flow in the river as it re-enters Delhi—crucial to ensuring self-cleansing and oxygenation of the water body.

Recognizing the importance of water conservation and urban resilience, Shah encouraged the Delhi government to use city reservoirs for rainwater harvesting and explore tourism potential around restored water bodies. He flagged unregulated borewell use as a growing concern and directed the Delhi Jal Board to phase in formal regulation through detailed surveys and water audits.

Livestock waste was another concern. Shah proposed collaboration with the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) to handle runoff and waste from dairies and informal cattle shelters, which significantly add to urban pollution levels.

He also recommended an increase in funding under the National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG), highlighting the need for a national-scale commitment to urban river rejuvenation.

The Yamuna cleanup is not just a regional priority—it is a test of India’s urban environmental governance. The river, which supports over 57 million people along its course, is emblematic of the broader challenge facing developing nations balancing urban growth with ecological sustainability.

Friday’s meeting signals the Indian government’s intent to put its political and administrative weight behind one of the country’s most ambitious river restoration efforts, while sending a message globally about India’s seriousness in addressing environmental degradation at scale.