Clean Yamuna on agenda, thousands arrive on way to Parliament

After marching for about 150 kilometres since March 1, thousands of volunteers demanding a cleaner Yamuna reached the national Capital on Monday.

After marching for about 150 kilometres since March 1, thousands of volunteers demanding a cleaner Yamuna reached the national Capital on Monday.

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As the caravan of men, women and children in tractors, trucks, trolleys and buses entered Delhi from the Badarpur border around noon, traffic was thrown out of gear till they reached the camping site around 4.30pm at Ali Gaon, near Badarpur.

The volunteers, marching under the banner of the Yamuna Rakshak Dal (YRD), had earlier planned to reach Jantar Mantar directly but because of traffic and the the on-going Parliament session, the police directed them to the campsite.

“As much as 97% of Yamuna water is impounded at Hathni Kund. Our demand is to release at least 50% water so that Yamuna has a natural flow right through Braj region up to Allahabad. We demand a total ban on sewer or industrial effluents entering the river,” said Acharya Pankaj Baba, YRD’s national trustee.

The demand is in keeping with earlier high court and Supreme Court orders for a clean Yamuna, spokesperson Rakesh Yadav said.

The camping ground, resembling a tent township, saw volunteers engaged in ‘Hori Ke Rasiya’, a traditional dance form of the Braj region where devotees indulge in personification of Lord Krishna, Radha and Gopikas.

Ramesh, a farmer from Chhata near Mathura, said, “People are suffering from kidney problems, skin allergies and other ailments due to the polluted Yamuna water, which has led to death of cattle too.”

Like thousands of others, the volunteers will march towards Jantar Mantar to gherao Parliament at 9 am on Tuesday.

Nine companies of police and paramilitary forces have been deployed at the venue. The administration has geared up to provide water and sanitation.