Waterway to be developed between Delhi and Agra

A waterway will be developed between Delhi and Agra for which technical study will be conducted by a Holland-based company, government told Rajya Sabha today.

Union Road Transport and Shipping Minister Nitin Gadkari said the project report for the waterway is already ready.

He said he has already held three meetings with the Delhi government in this regard.

Gadkari said a project worth Rs 4200 crore has also commenced between Varanasi and Haldia for cleaning river Yamuna.

The Centre and Delhi government have jointly started the project in which Delhi Development Authority and Delhi Municipal Corporation have also been roped in.

His response came after Congress member Digvijay Singh raised the issue of pollution in river Yamuna in Delhi and accused the central government of not fulfilling the promises made by the previous government for cleaning of the river.

Singh said the river Ganga cannot be cleaned up unless Yamuna is de-polluted.

He said a delegation had earlier met the then Water Resources Minister Harish Rawat and some decisions were taken with regard to cleaning of river Yamuna.

Despite the fact that those decisions were recorded in the minutes of the ministry, Singh claimed that present Water Resources Minister Uma Bharti told another delegation recently that nothing can be done in this regard now and anything can be done only after 2022.

He asked the NDA government to "show commitment towards fulfilling the promises made by the previous government".