On World Environment Day, river activists seek revival of Yamuna

The river activists gathered at Itimad-ud-daula viewpoint on the river bank as part of our ‘river connect’ campaign. We are here to offer our respect to this river through ‘Yamuna aarti’ which was conducted every evening by those who seek the revival of the river.

River activists and devotees gathered on the bank of Yamuna on the occasion of World Environment Day on Sunday and reminded everyone about the various promises made in past for the revival and survival of this river which has the status of a mother in the Braj region and is connected to Lord Krishna.

File photo of Yamuna flowing in the backyard of Taj Mahal in Agra. (Photo HT)

“The river activists gathered at Itimad-ud-daula viewpoint on the river bank as part of our ‘river connect’ campaign. We are here to offer our respect to this river through ‘Yamuna aarti’ which was conducted every evening by those who seek the revival of the river. Yamuna presently has been reduced to a shadow of its glorious past,” stated Brij Khandelwal, the convenor of the campaign.

“Yamuna needs dredging, de-silting, cleaning and encroachments on its flood plain in the Braj area should be removed at the earliest. The bio-diversity of this ancient river is in danger because of the fall in quantity and quality of water available which was endangering aquatic life. Thus, the availability of water in Yamuna all-round the year is a must,” Khandelwal added.

“The pollution in Yamuna was still a menace and thus there is an urgent need to tap and divert the drain adding pollutants to the river. The river police, if activated, can assist in keeping an eye on those damaging the river. The ghats on river Yamuna are in bad shape and need renovation,” he said.

The river crosses into U.P. via Haryana and Delhi and the two states take the lion’s share of water with little remaining for U.P.

“There was a need to review the agreements and understandings reached between states in 1994 so that Uttar Pradesh does not continue to be on receiving end,” stated Khandelwal, a known environmentalist in the Braj region.

Padmini Aiyyar, Dr Devashish Bhattacharya, Mahant Nandan Shrotiya, Dr Harendra Gupta, Nidhi Pathak, Rahul Raj, Deepak Rajput beside many others were present at the event.