Lucknow, Apr 4 (IANS): It is now Kejriwal versus Yogi Adityanath and the war is over Ganga versus Yamuna.

Uttar Pradesh Minister Siddhartha Nath Singh said, "Even after spending Rs 5,300 crores in the last six years, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's Yamuna remains toxic. Another surprising thing is that the Delhi government has made a provision of Rs 2,074 crore again in its Budget of 2021-22, to clean the Yamuna.

"On the contrary, the Yogi Adityanath government has cleaned the Ganga within two years after the formation of the government in 2017. Crores of devotees took a dip in the holy, hygienic and clean Ganga during the Kumbh-2019 held in Prayagraj, which was highly appreciated across the globe."

He further said that Delhi is the oldest and the first city situated on the banks of Yamuna. As much as 760 MGD (Million Gallons per Day) of sewage water is discharged into the Yamuna daily through 18 drains, of which 610 MGD alone is from Delhi. When seen from a distance, Yamuna actually looks like a dirty drain and the water has a foul smell too.

In the year 2014, the Kejriwal government had announced to spend Rs 5,300 crores in the name of cleaning the Yamuna and arranged funds for it. But there is hardly any work done and the condition remains miserable.

"It can be easily understood that the Kejriwal government has not been able to revive the Yamuna with so much money in the last six years and the question remains -- where is the hard-earned money of the people gone?" he asked.

On the other hand, Yogi Adityanath in Uttar Pradesh has succeeded in cleaning the Ganga water in the state.

Just two years after the formation of the Yogi government, Kumbh was held in Prayagraj.

During that time, the government had cleaned the dirty water coming from Naini, Jhusi and Prayagraj in Sangam by establishing treatment plants on 46 large sewage and drains.

These drains discharged 270 million litres of dirty water every day. Eight regular and two temporary sewage treatment plants were installed on 46 sewage and drains.

The government also collaborated with the National Environmental Engineering Institute (NEERI) for this task.

Drainage was treated at levels above 30 Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD).

In Kumbh-2019, crores of devotees from all over the world took a dip in the holy, serene and clean Ganga.