Dead Fish In Yamuna Raise Political Stink, AAP And BJP Spar

Dead fish seen floating in the Yamuna have triggered a political war of words between the ruling BJP and the opposition Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). Several social media users posted visuals of dead fish in the Yamuna ahead of the Chhath Puja festival along the Sonia Vihar stretch of the river in the Capital.

The sightings came just a day after the official launch of Delhi's first recreational river cruise service, the Namo Yamuna River Safari.

The incident has triggered a political row, with Delhi Environment Minister Parvesh Verma alleging that the dead fish were deliberately dumped into the river to discredit the government. The Opposition AAP questioned, "If this water is not safe for fish, is it safe for humans?"

The Delhi government's Irrigation and Flood Control Department has approached the police seeking registration of an FIR over social media posts alleging that chemicals were being sprayed into the Yamuna. 

Dead fish in the Yamuna
Photo Credit: NDTV Photo

NDTV visited the stretch on Friday and spotted three to four dead fish still floating in the river, two days after the visuals emerged. The cause of the fish deaths remains unknown.

Parvesh Verma alleged that some people were deliberately dumping dead fish adding that an FIR has been filed. "As soon as ferry services started operating on the Yamuna, just a day later, officials from our department informed me that some people were dumping dead fish into the Yamuna," he told mediapersons.

Delhi: Minister Parvesh Verma says, "As soon as the ferry started operating in the Yamuna, just a day after that, people from our department informed us that some individuals were dumping dead fish into the Yamuna. The grand festival of Chhath is approaching, and they want to spoil its atmosphere. Mothers and sisters who will offer Arghya there stand inside the water. Arvind Kejriwal has stooped to this petty politics to ruin that entire atmosphere. I have instructed our department to register an FIR regarding this, and the department is filing an FIR today. An investigation will be conducted to find out who these people are, whether they are Aam Aadmi Party workers, and what their connection is. Everything will become crystal clear"

— IANS (@ians_india) November 12, 2026

"The department is filing an FIR today. An investigation will be conducted to identify who these people are and whether they have any connection to AAP workers," he claimed.

Read | Delhi Gets Its First Electric Cruise On Yamuna: Rs 500 Ticket, 40-Minute Ride

This is the second incident of mass fish deaths in the Yamuna in one month.

AAP MLA and former minister Saurabh Bhardwaj posted a video of dead fish floating in the river and alleged that some harmful chemicals were being released into the river to make it appear clean ahead of Chhath Puja. He also rejected the government charge that "some people" were dumping dead fish into the Yamuna, asking for proof of the allegation.

मंत्री @p_sahibsingh मौखिक कह रहे हैं कि मरी हुई मछली कहीं से लाकर यमुना में डाली गई मगर शिकायत में ये बात कहीं नहीं लिखी है । 😂 सभी जानते हैं मछलियाँ प्रदूषित पानी से मरी होंगी। शायद डर गए कि जाँच होगी तो यमुना के प्रदूषण की पोल खुल जाएगी । सरकार जांच करवाये कि हज़ारों मछलियाँ कैसे मर गई ? जाँच से डर गए मंत्री प्रवेश वर्मा ?

— Saurabh Bharadwaj (@Saurabh_MLAgk) November 12, 2026

"Minister @p_sahibsingh is verbally saying that dead fish were brought from somewhere and dumped into the Yamuna, but this is nowhere mentioned in the complaint. Everyone knows the fish must have died from polluted water. Perhaps they got scared that an investigation would expose the Yamuna's pollution. Will the government order an investigation into how thousands of fish died?" he asked.

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The political row has come weeks after Delhi BJP MP Manoj Tiwari took a dip in the river and sipped its water to claim that the river has been cleaned by the BJP government. The Opposition had rejected the claim, insisting that the Sonia Vihar stretch where Tiwari took the dip has always been clean and the Yamuna gets polluted in the later stretch.

केजरीवाल जी और राहुल गांधी जी, यह रील नहीं, हकीकत है। यह दिल्ली की ही यमुना जी हैं। आज मैंने यहाँ स्नान भी किया और आचमन भी किया। केजरीवाल जी राहुल गांधी जी आप कब आ रहे हो डुबकी लगाने? @ArvindKejriwal @RahulGandhi https://t.co/cjrvQNUCqN

— Manoj Tiwari (@ManojTiwariMP) October 29, 2026

In October, the death of hundreds of fish was reported in Burari, upstream of the Wazirabad barrage, a stretch often considered Yamuna's cleanest section in Delhi. The deaths raised concerns as they came soon after the monsoon, when the river is expected to have adequate water and cleaner upstream inflows.