A day after a video surfaced purportedly showing a large number of dead fish floating in Yamuna water near northeast Delhi’s Sonia Vihar, the political row over the incident intensified on Friday, with Delhi ministers accusing the AAP of dumping dead fish in the river to defame the Government.
The opposition party rejected the allegations, questioning how authorities could have dumped so many dead fish into the river without noticing. Delhi AAP chief Saurabh Bharadwaj demanded an inquiry into the fish deaths in the Yamuna, alleging that water samples have yet to be collected to determine the cause.
Delhi Environment Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa accused AAP national convenor Arvind Kejriwal and his associates of orchestrating the incident, claiming that the party is rattled by the Government’s efforts to clean the Yamuna and the recent launch of a cruise service along the river. In a post on X, Sirsa said, “No one could have imagined that politics could sink this low -- What Mr Kejriwal and his associates have done... There can be no greater sin than this.”
He alleged that AAP workers had brought dead fish from the market and dumped them in the river before recording videos to create an impression that the Yamuna remained polluted. Sirsa asserted that Delhi had seen its cleanest October in the past decade and continued to register comparatively clean-air days even after Diwali.
He said the alleged act was particularly reprehensible ahead of Chhath Puja, when devotees, including women, would visit riverbanks. Delhi Water Minister Parvesh Verma had, on Thursday, accused the AAP of staging the incident, alleging that its workers had purchased dead fish from the market and thrown them into the river to create a controversy.
“Today, I am seeing dirty politics by AAP. They are buying dead fish from the market and dumping them in the river and posting videos in an attempt to defame us,” Verma said. AAP leader Saurabh Bharadwaj rejected the allegations, questioning how thousands of dead fish could have been dumped into the river without anyone noticing or any CCTV footage being available.
Addressing a press conference here on Friday, Bharadwaj alleged that pollution levels in the river have increased, and claimed that a water treatment plant was shut down around the same time as the fish deaths.
He also questioned the Delhi Government’s cruise service on the river, alleging that chemicals were sprinkled into the water, and demanded an investigation into whether these additives could be linked to the fish deaths.
The AAP leader said water samples should be collected and examined to establish the cause of the incident.
Bharadwaj said during a meeting with an official of the flood and irrigation department, he was told that the issue of dead fish in Yamuna water did not fall under the department’s purview. He further claimed that the official said he had not seen anyone dumping dead fish into the river.
“Now, I want to ask Parvesh Verma who has seen or told him that any AAP leader dumped dead fish into the Yamuna,” Bharadwaj said, referring to the allegation raised by the Delhi water minister.
“Parvesh Verma does not even know about his own department. He is saying that Saurabh Bharadwaj, Arvind Kejriwal and AAP brought dead fish and dumped them in the Yamuna,” he said, questioning how no one noticed them do this. “Parvesh Verma is making up more lies to cover up one. He should accept that thousands of fish have died in the Yamuna due to pollution,” Bharadwaj said.
The exact cause of the purported fish deaths remains unconfirmed, though locals allege that effluents released into the river from a leather tannery are responsible. Residents claimed that the problem recurs every year when pollutants are discharged into the river from an industrial unit located near the Hathnikund Barrage.
“There is a tannery, and the discharges from there are polluted. Several fish died on Wednesday and Thursday. The fish died because of the polluted water,” a local said.