Yamuna is going to be clean for the ceremonial dips at the Chhath Puja at the end of this month, Delhi chief minister Rekha Gupta has announced — no toxic foam, at least. To that end, the BJP government is using several methods, such as releasing more water, and chemical defoamers that were carried to the riverbank in several large blue drums over the past couple days, sparking a “gotcha” reaction from the main opposition AAP, which is flashing a 2022 video to allege hypocrisy.
It’s questioning how the BJP, particularly water minister Parvesh Verma, was terming the defoamer “poison” when the then AAP government led by Arvind Kejriwal used it; and is now seeing an anti-pollution “weapon” in it.
Saurabh Bharadwaj, the AAP Delhi president and former health minister, shared a video from October 2022 in which Parvesh Verma can be seen berating a Delhi Jal Board officer for using “this poison”.
To contrast, he also shared a video by AAP MLA Sanjeev Jha from a day earlier. Jha went to the spot and said in the video, pointing towards the drums labelled ‘defoamer concentrate’: “This chemical is being added to the Yamuna to remove the foam. I am showing this because there’s a BJP government in Delhi, and Parvesh Verma is a minister. I want to ask Parvesh Verma if now this is poison.”
In that 2022 incident, a video of which was also shared by the AAP official handle on X, Parvesh Verma angrily challenged the Jal Board official, saying, in Hindi: “Should I pour this chemical on your head? Aren’t you ashamed? People will come here to take a dip. Go, you take a dip first here!” The official responded with: “Why are you so angry? This chemical is approved.”
The defoamers or “anti-foam agents” carried to the riverbank in trucks are chemicals that break down the bubbles of existing foam and prevent new foam from forming.
Experts caution that such measures are akin to treating only the symptoms, and that the froth formation would reduce on its own if its health was improved by cutting pollution.
Officials have said they sprayed a chemical that’s approved by the National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG).
The anti-foaming agent is usually used in industrial processes.
DJB officials had, in 2022 too, clarified that the agency was using a silicon dioxide-based agent with poly-oxypropylene group as the de-foaming agent, and added that it is not harmful.
“Silicon dioxide is derived from silica or sand. It is used in shampoos, conditioners and even some medicines. Some videos of doctors talking about its toxicity are being seen in the social media, but we need to understand that these compounds need to be spoken about in the context of right concentration and dosage. Excess of everything including oxygen can be injurious. The mixture is being used with 100 times dilution and there is visible improvement in the water quality,” a Jal Board official told HT.
CM Rekha Gupta went to the riverbank on Thursday and explained the success of Yamuna de-foaming plans, and said the agents being used are environment-friendly and approved by the appropriate authorities.