New Delhi, Sept. 17 -- The Centre is confident of meeting its target of cleaning the Yamuna before the 2029 deadline, Union Jal Shakti Minister C R Patil asserted on Wednesday while replying a query from Millennium Post correspondent on government's proposal for cleaning the river.

Responding to a question on the government's proposal to clean the Yamuna, Patil said the nearly 50 km stretch of the river in Delhi was the most polluted one as "both the availability of water and the water coming out of hundreds of drains mixing with the river's water were issues."

"There is hardly any clean water in the river Yamuna in Delhi," he said, adding that he was confident that the government would meet its target of having a clean Yamuna before 2029. His comments came a day after Union Home Minister Amit Shah laid foundation to Kishau Multipurpose Project with an aim to improve water availability in the river and declared 2029 as the target year for cleaning the river.

The Kishau Project which is proposed to be constructed on Tons river, a tributary of River Yamuna, would provide around 25 per cent more water to Delhi and to the Yamuna itself, said Amit Shah while addressing the gathering on the occasion.

The project includes construction of a 232.6 metre high dam with a live storage capacity of 1,562 million cubic metres. Besides irrigation and power generation, the additional water so made available is expected to help in flushing the river Yamuna.

While Patil's reply to a question on the government's proposal for cleaning the river showed that improved availability of water was one thing, prevention of pollution from mixing with the river's water was another crucial element.

"The target of 2029 will be achieved only if the water from hundreds of drains flowing into the river in Delhi is prevented from mixing with the river water," he said.

With Kishau agreement being signed, the Centre faces the task of using increased water availability for meeting the target of cleaning the river.

Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.