Youths flock to ministry with dirty Yamuna water

About 12 youths demonstrated with bottles filled with ‘dirty’ Yamuna water to highlight the plight of the second-most sacred river in India.

About 12 youths demonstrated with bottles filled with ‘dirty’ Yamuna water to highlight the plight of the second-most sacred river in India.

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The men who wanted to give the bottles to Union minister for water resources Harish Rawat were stopped by the police at Shram Shakti Bhavan on Rafi Marg.

As they were not allowed to meet the minister, the youths held a sit-in outside its gate.

Disillusioned after what they described as ‘sabotage’ by the Yamuna Rakshak Dal (YRD), the youths had been protesting at Jantar Mantar since March 15, demanding a cleaner Yamuna.

Thousands of people from the Braj area had recently marched to Delhi, demanding that fresh water should be flown into the river and the government must ensure that there sewage is not dumped into the Yamuna.

“But the rakshak (saviour) has become bhakshak (devourer). The government has conspired with the YRD leaders to sign a faulty deal,” said Shriom, a protester.

As part of the agreement with the YRD last week, Rawat had promised diversion of the Ganga water from Hindon cut to Yamuna, downstream of Okhla.