Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh) [India], July 7 (ANI): Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav on Monday criticised the Uttar Pradesh government over the Kukrail riverfront project and stated that for the first time, a riverfront is being constructed over a 'drain'.

Akhilesh Yadav said that the Uttar Pradesh government 'destroyed' Lucknow's Akbarnagar area due to which many people lost their lives and businesses.

'This government is going to destroy and it destroyed Akbarnagar in Lucknow due to which many people lost their businesses and people lost their lives. For the first time a riverfront is being built on the drain', Akhilesh Yadav said during a press conference in Lucknow.

The SP MP noted that during his tenure as Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, he cleaned Varanasi's Varuna river and ensured that untreated water would not be released into it. He mentioned that in the present time 'natural purification' of rivers is not happening, due to which the level of dissolved oxygen is decreasing in the rivers.

'Our government cleaned the Varuna river and our plan was that only treated water should go into the river and we did the same for Gomti. Natural purification of the river is not happening and the dissolved oxygen in the rivers is decreasing', the SP chief said.

Akhilesh Yadav stressed that he received information regarding treatment plants being shut down across the state. He said that drain water and filth are being directly dumped into rivers and noted that the rivers of Bundelkhand are being so highly excavated that in every district, 'mounds' have formed on the roadside along with edges on the field.

'Information is coming in that treatment plants across the entire state have been shut down. Drain water and filth are being directly dumped into rivers. The rivers of Bundelkhand have been so heavily excavated that in every district, mounds have formed on roadsides and along the edges of fields', he said. (ANI)