As toxic froth kept floating in the River Yamuna in full public view for a third day, the Delhi government on Wednesday adopted a bizarre way to handle the menace -- spraying water on the river.
Wednesday marks the last day of the Hindu festival Chhath, which requires devotees to take a dip and stand in water for long hours to pay their obeisance to the rising and setting sun on different days.
A Delhi government employee was found sprinkling water early Wednesday from the riverbank when a media person asked what the objective behind it was. The man replied: "We are doing it to remove the foam. It will last till evening today". The development came as the union territory government faced sharp criticism from opposition political parties and the public after some devotees were found compelled to take a dip in the toxic foam at the start of the three-day Chhath festival. Earlier, the Delhi government deployed 15 boats to remove the foam that is forming in the Yamuna
Minutes after the video, a section of netizens slammed Delhi state chief Arvind Kejriwal for adopting such a method.
Some Twitter users mocked Kejriwal, saying that his party "is that Alcatraz [island] from where logic managed to escape and swim to safety in the dead of night".
Meanwhile, Delhi is also choking due to poor air quality after Diwali, a Hindu festival that involves the bursting of firecrackers, and sees various incidents of stubble burning in neighbouring states.
Some netizens made fun of the Delhi government by suggesting some unusual ways to end the pollution in the city.
Environmentalists, political parties, and the people of Delhi have raised concerns over the appalling situation.
The hazardous foam floating in the Yamuna River results from increased ammonia levels and high phosphate content caused by the discharge of industrial pollutants, including detergents, into the river.
Federally ruling BJP parliamentarian Manoj Tiwari also visited the Yamuna River on Tuesday and told Sputnik that the Kejriwal government had failed to clean the holy river.