New Delhi, Oct. 26 -- Public Works Department (PWD) minister Parvesh Verma on Saturday said the Yamuna's faecal coliform levels-which indicate human and animal waste contamination-had dropped by more than 90% compared to last year's October figures. This led to a political row, as opposition parties claimed that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was "misleading" people ahead of the Bihar elections. Verma said four of the eight major sampling points in the river were now within or close to the permissible limit of 2,500MPN (most probable number)/100 ml. "While the previous government spent 10 years making announcements, we have delivered visible outcomes within seven months. We had promised to clean the Yamuna within three years, and we are already halfway to achieving that target." The Aam Aadmi Party's Delhi chief Saurabh Bharadwaj, meanwhile, claimed that Delhi government's pollution report confirmed that the river water was "unfit" for drinking or bathing. According to the latest analysis by the Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC), faecal coliform concentrations have seen record declines from 2024. Taking a swipe at Bharadwaj, who recently cited a DPCC report to question the government's claims, Verma said Bharadwaj had "conveniently omitted" previous years' data that showed much higher contamination levels during his tenure. In response, Bharadwaj said, "Drinking this water can endanger the lives of children and pregnant women. To secure votes in Bihar, BJP is deceiving Purvanchali devotees and playing with their lives."...