The National Green Tribunal on Wednesday criticised the Delhi Jal Board for making no “meaningful progress” in three years to clean the Yamuna. The green regulator observed that despite its order of January 13, 2015, work was yet to start on 14 sewage treatment plants to rejuvenate the river, PTI reported.

“In spite of proceedings in the case in the last three years, there is no meaningful progress at the ground level,” said a bench headed by National Green Tribunal Chairperson AK Goel. “It does appear that the present in-charge may not be competent enough to handle the issue.”

Calling it a “failure situation”, the bench said, “We don’t want useless and incompetent people who have failed us, the people, and the country.”

The tribunal ordered the chief executive officer of the Delhi Jal Board to appoint “a suitable officer” who can ensure that work on the 14 plants starts within a month, and asked him to file an affidavit within two weeks. It also asked neighbouring Haryana to file an affidavit on the steps taken to ensure that no untreated effluents flow into the river.

The bench is scheduled to pass more orders on Thursday.

Earlier, the NGT had asked the Delhi government and the Delhi Jal Board to submit a status report on progress made in the first phase of cleaning, known as the Maili se Nirmal Yamuna Revitalisation Project. It later asked Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh to file a report of the parts of the river falling beyond the purview of the national capital. It had also asked Haryana and Himachal Pradesh pollution control boards to conduct a joint study of the water quality and its flow where the river enters Haryana, and submit a list of industries located in the catchment area.