This weekend, Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta sat for interviews with DD anchor Sudhir Chaudhary and Aaj Tak’s Anjana Om Kashyap at Vasudev Ghat. The backdrop of these interviews wasn’t the river. It was apparently a man-made pond, which the AAP claims was filled with filtered water from the Sonia Vihar plant.

So as Chhath Puja devotees prepared to offer prayers, a spotless Yamuna was ostensibly reborn for the screen. Despite the government’s own records suggesting alarming pollution levels and the river being unfit for bathing.

Yamuna’s water quality has deteriorated since September, according to the Delhi Pollution Control Committee’s October report. Except at Palla, it remains unfit even for bathing. Samples from major drains like Molarband and Sahibabad showed biochemical oxygen demand of 145 mg/l and chemical oxygen demand at 416 mg/l – five times the permissible limit. The faecal coliform levels were beyond the norms too. But none of this made it to the conversations with the CM. 

Gupta, on her part, made tall claims about pollution levels in the Yamuna having been reduced during her tenure. 

Newslaundry tried to access the location but was denied entry. 

Aaj Tak

Anjana Om Kashyap quoted the AAP’s accusation, that the so-called “clean” Yamuna was in fact a beautified façade, created with filtered Ganga water. She also asked about desilting and viral videos of foam. But she never once referred to the DPCC data. 

“Unka ye kehna hai ki ye jo mitti ki jagah hai, yahan se to Yamuna ji beh rahi hai, yaha aapne Ganga ji ka paani Sonia Vihar plant se jo hari waali waha pipes dikh rahi hai wo Sonia Vihar se filtered Ganga ji ka paani laake ek kritim yaha par pond bana diya hai (They’re saying that this area, which looks like plain soil, actually has the Yamuna flowing nearby. And what you see here- the green pipes- are carrying filtered Ganga water from the Sonia Vihar plant, which has been used to create an artificial pond here.)”

The conversation soon drifted to Diwali and Bihar elections.

Doordarshan

DD’s version was no different. Sudhir Chaudhary framed his questions around AAP’s accusations that silicone defoamers were being used to hide the foam rather than clean the river.

Questions about chemical levels never surfaced.

However, he reassured viewers: “Aap dekhe waise toh bohot koi bura nahi hai, isme nahaya jaa sakta hai.” The irony, making this claim beside a demarcated pond, not the Yamuna itself, seemed lost on him. 

Like Kashyap, Chaudhary abandoned the subject midway to discuss Diwali pollution, gendered success, and even the CM’s marriage. “Jab parivaar me mahila koi superstar ban jaati hai… ye aapki paarivarik life me kitna asar karta hai?”

Times Now Navbharat

Sushant Sinha on Times Now Navbharat briefly invoked the Yamuna. His primetime monologue praised the Prime Minister and the Chief Minister, declaring that they would make everything “pavitra” again. There was no mention of the DPCC’s findings.

“Khud mukhyamantri Rekha Gupta apne mantriyo ke saath peechle kai dino se lagatar Yamuna ke ghaato par jaake safai ko monitor kar rahi hai, CM khud nao par baith jaa rahi hai (Chief Minister Rekha Gupta herself, along with her ministers, has been continuously visiting the Yamuna ghats for the past several days to monitor the cleaning work. The CM is even getting on boats personally.)”

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