Delhi govt to file FIR after CAG panel report on Yamuna spending: Minister
Ahmedabad, Aug 17 (IANS) The Delhi government will register an FIR after a committee examines a Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report concerning work and expenditure by previous governments on sewage treatment and the Delhi Jal Board, Delhi Cabinet Minister Parvesh Sahib Singh said on Monday.
Singh made the statement during a visit to Ahmedabad’s Sabarmati Riverfront, where he and senior officials examined the riverfront’s development and the systems used to control sewage entering the river.
He said the CAG had raised serious questions over the functioning of sewage treatment plants (STPs) and the use of funds by the Delhi Jal Board.
“Whatever work was done by previous governments, CAG reports on all those works are coming. A CAG report had also come regarding the Delhi Jal Board, covering the money spent by it,” Singh said.
He added, “The CAG had raised very serious questions, saying that the money was spent on sewage treatment plants, but those plants never operated properly and did not function at their intended capacity. They could not treat the water and sewage that they were supposed to treat. So, the CAG raised very serious questions. We have sent the CAG report to the committee. Once the committee’s report comes, an FIR will be registered based on it.”
The CAG’s Performance Audit on the Functioning of the Delhi Jal Board covered the period from 2017-18 to 2021-22.
Its findings included shortcomings in sewerage management, delays in executing projects and works, and financial and human-resource management issues.
The audit also recorded that untreated sewage from unauthorised colonies was being discharged into stormwater drains and found that treated effluent from several STPs did not meet prescribed Delhi Pollution Control Committee standards.
The CAG’s report said 212.59 MGD of sewage generated by 1,080 unauthorised colonies was being dumped untreated into stormwater drains. At the same time, treated effluent released by 25 STPs into the Yamuna did not meet the prescribed norms.
Singh’s remarks came as the Delhi government seeks to combine pollution-control measures with a planned riverfront along the Yamuna.
He said the government was pursuing sewage treatment and riverfront development simultaneously rather than waiting for the Yamuna to be completely cleaned before beginning beautification work.
“Today, a lot of work on cleaning the Yamuna has started simultaneously, with all the departments involved beginning their respective work,” he said.
The Delhi Jal Board, he said, had begun constructing and upgrading sewage treatment plants, with the government aiming to bridge the existing sewage-treatment capacity gap within two years.
He also said the government planned to provide sewer connections to lakhs of households currently not connected to the sewer network within 18 months.
“Work has also begun on processing waste generated by dairies, while the Jal Board is preparing a scheme to collect septic waste from household septic tanks and transport it to STPs for treatment,” Singh said.
Recent official data has highlighted the scale of the challenge. In a July 2025 reply, the Union government said Delhi’s estimated sewage generation was 3,596 million litres per day, against an installed capacity of 3,474 MLD across 37 operational STPs.
At the time, around 641 MLD of sewage remained untreated and entered the river or drainage network, while 14 STPs were not complying with Delhi Pollution Control Committee norms.
The Union government has since continued to review the Yamuna rejuvenation programme.
At a review meeting chaired by Home Minister Amit Shah in June, the government called for detailed action plans and execution dates for Yamuna rejuvenation projects, long-term maintenance arrangements, and progress reviews every 20 days.
Singh said the Sabarmati Riverfront had offered lessons that could be applied to the Yamuna, although Delhi’s larger population meant the required infrastructure would be on a larger scale.
“I understand that around 90 per cent of the issues that existed here at the Sabarmati Riverfront and those involved in cleaning the Sabarmati River are similar to the issues we have in the Yamuna,” he said.
“The remaining issues are bigger mainly because Delhi has a larger population. The volume of sewage entering the Yamuna is higher, so we have to build more plants,” he added.
He said different departments were working on different elements of the proposed Yamuna riverfront, including sewage treatment plants, parks and cycle tracks.
“One department is planning to build cycle tracks there, another is planning to develop large parks, while another is planning to construct sewage treatment plants. So, all these works are being carried out simultaneously,” he said.
Singh said the proposed riverfront would include large parks, cycle tracks, ghats, recreational facilities and sports grounds.
He also pointed to the relocation of the Dhobi Ghat at the Sabarmati Riverfront as an example of how activities that contribute to river pollution could be reorganised.
“There are many washermen on the Yamuna who wash clothes, and the waste from this activity goes directly into the water. We can also shift them in the same way and provide them with a proper ghat,” he said.
The minister acknowledged that the Sabarmati Riverfront took 10-12 years to develop fully but said the Delhi government expected residents to see a substantial difference in the Yamuna before the next election.
“We have promised that before the next election, the people of Delhi will see a massive difference in the Yamuna and in Delhi,” Singh said.
On Chhath Puja, Singh said the government would continue providing designated ghats along the Yamuna while efforts to clean the river continue. “The government had constructed Chhath ghats last year and at least 10 lakh people celebrated the festival along the Yamuna,” he said.
–IANS
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