Delhi blaming Haryana for their own mismanagement: Dushyant Chautala over frothing in Yamuna

Haryana Deputy Chief Minister Dushyant Chautala hit back at AAP leaders in Delhi blaming his state for the frothing in the Yamuna river, saying it has become the Arvind Kejriwal government's ''habit'' to blame the neighbouring state for everything.

Responding to reporters' questions, he said Delhi banned firecrackers but violations occurred on Diwali leading to the air quality nosediving to the 'severe' level and Haryana was blamed.

''Delhi is blaming Haryana for their own mismanagement. They failed to improve things even after spending crores of rupees. For anything happening in Delhi, they have only one answer, blame Haryana,'' Chautala said.

Rejecting AAP leaders' claim that Haryana has been releasing gallons of untreated wastewater into the river, the deputy chief minister said, ''It has become their habit to blame Haryana for everything.'' This time, stubble burning cases in Haryana are low, yet Haryana is being blamed for the air pollution, he further claimed.

Pictures and videos showing devotees offering prayers in the Yamuna on the occasion of Chhath Puja on Monday with toxic foam floating on the river had triggered a political slugfest between the ruling AAP and the BJP in Delhi.

While the BJP leaders alleged that the AAP government did not allow Chhath celebrations on the Yamuna banks to hide the ''pathetic'' state of the river, the AAP's Gopal Rai and Raghav Chadha had blamed the governments in Uttar Pradesh and Haryana for the frothing in the river.

AAP leader and Delhi Jal Board Vice Chairman Raghav Chadha claimed that Haryana and Uttar Pradesh have been releasing around 155 million gallons of untreated wastewater a day in the river through Najafgarh and Shahdara drains.

''This water containing a lot of organic waste, chemicals and detergents fall from a height at the Okhla barrage which leads to the formation of foam,'' he had said.

The 22-kilometre stretch of the Yamuna between Wazirabad and Okhla, which is less than 2 per cent of its length of 1,370 kilometres from Yamunotri to Allahabad, accounts for around 80 per cent of the pollution load in the river.

The presence of phosphates and surfactants in untreated sewage from Delhi, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh is a major reason behind frothing in the river, according to experts.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)