River Yamuna: Shrinking waters and livelihoods
Updated On Jun 17, 2017 07:24 PM IST
The shrinking waters of the river Yamuna are taking along with them the livelihoods of the Mallahs and the delicate ecological balance.
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Updated on Jun 17, 2017 07:24 PM IST
The Supreme Court recently forwarded the Yamuna revival case to the National Green Tribunal. Massive barrages and hydropower plants inhibiting the flow of river water, encroachments in the flood plains, loss of vegetation, pollution from agriculture and industry are primary reasons for the shrinking of the Yamuna. The only solution provided so far has been building sewage treatment plants, rather than restoring the flow of water in the river. The Mallahs living in Uttar Pradesh and Haryana are a community whose life and livelihood revolves around the ebb and flow of the river. (Burhaan Kinu/HT PHOTO)
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Updated on Jun 17, 2017 07:24 PM IST
The riverbed of the Yamuna resembles a desert at Ramda village near the Haryana-Uttar Pradesh border. Eighty percent of the population dependent on agriculture has lost its livelihood in the area. The drying up of the river over the last decade has forced migration to other areas in search of work, spending eight to ten months away from their homes. The river's drying up is also an ecological disaster with destruction of marine habitats. (Burhaan Kinu/HT PHOTO)
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The drying up of the Yamuna has forced approximately 500 families to migrate to Meerut, Uttar Pradesh where they farm near the Ganga river for eight months in a year. Their children are unable to attend school due to this annual migration and work as farm labour instead. (Burhaan Kinu/HT PHOTO)
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Famed for its unique flavour, the produce from the banks of the Yamuna would bring in up to 25,000 rupees per acre. The drying up of the river has affected the farmers’ ability to repay their loans and sustain livelihood. (Burhaan Kinu/HT PHOTO)
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The Uttarakhand High Court in March declared the Ganga and Yamuna as living entities, bestowing on them same legal rights as a person. While mining, dams and hydro power projects extract life from the river, building large Sewage Treatment Plant infrastructure has been the only solution that successive Yamuna Action Plans have provided to revive the river. (Burhaan Kinu/HT PHOTO)
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The dead fish at Kairana are testament to the shrinking ecological inventory of the Yamuna, and the livelihoods dependent on it. (Burhaan Kinu/HT PHOTO)
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The Mallahs say that if the Yamuna flows, it will take care of all their woes. Despite money spent on rejuvenating the river, they have only seen it shrink every year. Lucrative commercial contracts from sand mining, hydro power projects, and underperforming STPs are killing the river, aquatic life and their livelihood. (Burhaan Kinu/HT PHOTO)
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Perhaps the biggest casualty are the children who migrate along with their families. They don’t go to school, are stuck spending their days by the riverbank and return to their native villages after the produce has been sold. (Burhaan Kinu/HT PHOTO)
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Mallahs from the affected areas of Haryana and UP migrate to Bijnor, Asifabad, Shukratal, and Laksar. The Ganga river is a lucrative alternative with the Namami Gange initiative getting a push from the government, and the religious sanctity associated with the Ganga and the Allahabad Sangam. (Burhaan Kinu/HT PHOTO)
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When the rivers were flourishing waterways, the Mallahs were traditional boatmen ferrying people. With waterway navigation shrinking, they took to fishing, but fishing contracts being sold to the highest bidder by the government, reduced them to farming watermelons, cucumbers, bottle-gourd and muskmelon by the river bank. (Burhaan Kinu/HT PHOTO)
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Updated on Jun 17, 2017 07:24 PM IST