Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, along with his Cabinet colleagues and senior Delhi Government officials, took part in the first Yamuna Aarti held at the Kudesia Ghat, near ISBT, on the banks of the Yamuna on Friday as pundits from Varanasi recited shlokas and hymns amid beating of drums and brass plates.
Organised and performed on the lines of Maha Ganga Arti in Varanasi, the Delhi Government also wants to promote religious tourism on the ghats of Yamuna by providing better facilities.
“We are establishing an independent body in collaboration the Urban Development Ministry which will look after the work and management related to the river Yamuna. The company will be equally funded by the Centre and the State Government,” said Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.
“Whenever people thought of Yamuna River, only polluted and stinking river comes into our mind. However, this was the past. Now, the river’s ghat scenario will be different as it can be seen as holy and spiritual ghat like that of holy river Ganga,” said Delhi Tourism and Delhi Jal Borad’s chairman Kapil Mishra, the brain behind this historic event.
Beside, the Government is working upon to stop the drainage from the drains like Najarfgarh into the river which is another source of pollution in the water, said Mishra.
“We can achieve our target to see the river as tourists, picnic and holy spot only when people will stop throwing religious waste and other into the river and when they will start connecting with the holy river,” said Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia.