Has Yamuna become India's river of sorrow?

Agra, Oct 7 (IANS) Scanty rains this monsoon season in Agra region have alarmed agriculturists and river activists.

The sickly Yamuna river is already dry. “Thanks to open drains upstream, the river has been reduced to a vast sewage canal. Already you can see foaming and white layer patches on the river bed downstream of the Gokul barrage in Mathura. Yamuna is stinking with filth and toxic effluents,” said environmentalist Devashish Bhattacharya.

The Agra region normally gets around 650 mm rain during the four month rainy season, but this year the total rainfall has not been able to cross 500mm.

“The rains have been erratic and poorly distributed. The whole of August went dry, when Kharif sowing normally begins,” according to village level worker Ghan Shyam.

The sight of a dry and polluted river along whose banks are sited some of the best Mughal monuments including the Taj Mahal, is such a put off for the tourists. Heaps of garbage and mounds of immersed Ganesh idols are polluting the river water.

One of the holiest rivers of India, the Yamuna in Agra has not received the focused attention of the Yogi Adityanath government in UP. Demands for desilting, dredging and cleaning up the river bed plus continuous discharge of a minimum quantity of fresh water to keep the river alive have not drawn sympathetic response from the government, say the green activists of the River Connect Campaign.

In November 2013, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had promised prompt action to rejuvenate river Yamuna. Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkiri also on several occasions promised to start a ferry service from Delhi to Agra to bring in tourists, but the promises have not been kept.

One of the green activists Jugal Kishor fumed furiously at the continued callous neglect of the holy Yamuna.

“Not only UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, but also Prime Minister Narendra Modi and union minister Nitin Gadkiri had promised to take appropriate steps to rejuvenate and revive the ancient glory of Yamuna. Gadkiri on three different occasions had assured that ferries would bring tourists from Delhi to Agra and the Yamuna would be cleaned. But the ground reality continues to remain depressing.”

Why a party committed to Hindu ideology and reviving ancient glory could be so callous and apathetic to the condition of holy rivers, is something that needs investigation, says Lok Swar president Rajiv Gupta.

“Yamuna is integral to the Sri Krishna-Radha-lore. For the Hindus it is one of the holiest rivers. The Bhakti movement poets eulogised Kalindi (Yamuna). Even the Mughal rulers were fascinated by the majestic and resplendent Yamuna river. Almost all great monuments were sited on the banks of river Yamuna from Delhi to Agra,” says Goswami Nandan Shrotriya, priest of the 300-year old Sri Mathuradheesh temple in Agra.

On a number of occasions while intervening in the MC Mehta PIL on Taj Mahal pollution, the Supreme Court had stressed on not only cleaning pollution but also maintaining a regular flow of water in the Yamuna for the safety of the historical monuments.

The National Green Tribunal too has ordered uninterrupted minimum flow of water in Yamuna to cleanse pollutants and support aqua life, adds Padmini Iyer of the River Connect Campaign.

But successive governments have lacked the will needed to face the challenge of water pollution in the rivers. To further compound a grave situation, thousands of water bodies in the Braj Mandal have disappeared without a trace. The holy ponds “kunds” of Braj have either vanished or grabbed by land sharks, say the locals.

A large number of these ponds had been resurrected and renovated by the Braj Foundation run by Vineet Narain but the Braj Teerth Parishad that the Yogi government set up to revive religious tourism in Mathura district, has not shown the passion to conserve these natural assets.

“The eco-degradation of the entire Braj Mandal, once known for its green pastures, mangroves, water bodies, animal life, is a pathetic tale of gross neglect and lop-sided priorities,” says Gopal Singh of the Agra Heritage Conservation Group.

Some years ago, responding to a stern high court directive, the Uttar Pradesh government had formed a special force, the River Police in Agra to ensure that people did not pollute the ancient Yamuna river here.

Restrictions were also imposed on bathing cattle in the river. Washermen were asked to shift downstream -- but to no avail. The multimillion rupee Yamuna Action Plan seems to have gone haywire.

The Yamuna here lies reduced to a drain, far cry from the times when it formed an idyllic backdrop for the splendid 17th century Taj Mahal.

Despite alarm raised from time to time, the union government has so far not been able to draw up a comprehensive National Rivers Policy, nor constitute a Central Rivers Authority.

For decades river activists have been screaming at the top of their voices, pleading with government agencies to release more fresh water in the 1,400-km long Yamuna to dilute pollution.