Resurrecting the Yamuna                         

Ridhima Sud  &  Sneh Yadav

 Throughout the annals of history we find that civilizations have invariably sprung up on the banks of rivers and large water sources. This can easily be understood for water is man’s most basic requirement. Whereas, earlier, water was mainly a domestic need, with industrialization, water is now in big demand for running small scale industries, power generation plants, cooling appliances, building, construction, et al.  With large scale rural-urban migration there are further strains on basic requirements and the one commodity that is fast depleting is clean water.

        Heavy loads of sewage and industrial effluents, if not properly disposed of, lead to severe contamination of water bodies, turning rivers into virtual drains and thus depriving them of  aquatic life.  Towns and cities with filthy, stinking surface water bodies are not just degrading the environment but also creating serious health hazards.

        The river Yamuna passes through the capital city for a 22 km. stretch, from Wazirabad to Okhla.  In this stretch 18 drains offload their effluents into the river which is already depleted of fresh water. The Yamuna flows through Delhi but is barely visible to its citizens. It is just a streak of water that is crossed over on congested bridges. The river is reduced to this pathetic state on account of the demands made on it. The population of the capital is increasing by 500,000 each year.  The Yamuna Action Plan was conceived in 1975 and in the past three decades though huge financial expenses have been incurred – there have been no commensurate results.

        CLEAN-India is committed to restoring the river to its pristine state. It has adopted a holistic approach to handle the Herculean task.  With great faith in students as harbingers of  change, who, if well motivated, can make their voices heard and translate their concerns into action for a cleaner environment, CLEAN-Delhi has set the ball rolling. Students have actively participated in monitoring the water quality of the Yamuna. This gives an idea of the changes in the quality of water as it enters and leaves the city. The monitoring is done with the help of the Jal-TARA water testing kit.

        Jal-TARA is a self-sufficient field kit containing all chemicals required for testing 14 essential parameters for ascertaining the quality of drinking and river water. The sampling was done upstream, midstream and downstream  to observe the changes in water quality as it passed through Delhi. Along with checking for physico-chemical parameters, bio-monitoring of the river was done with the Central Pollution Control Board to assess the benthic diversity of Yamuna.

        After checking water quality, the students actively participated in the clean-up drives. They removed plastic and other wastes floating in the river. They also spoke to the riverbank residents and made them understand their role in keeping the river clean and to not treat it as a sewer. The youngsters spoke with the temple priests and tried to make them see reality. Although worshipped as a deity, the river has very limited self purification capacities and if its sanctity is to be maintained, it can only be done by keeping it clean. In the name of religion and acts of worship, one cannot just keep dumping material into the river. The students put up awareness boards and alternative pits for people to dispose their religious rites’ leftovers.

        CLEAN-India has been using the mass media to reach out to people - through shows on the radio and television and articles in the dailies. This has had some sensitising impact and efforts are still on to bring about a sense of ownership and responsibility towards the river.

        Alongside, there is also the possibility of creating sustainable livelihoods with the help of the river. One of the ways is by the systematic harvesting of water hyacinth in the Yamuna from upstream - Wazirabad  to  the ITO Bridge. In addition to arresting further proliferation of the aquatic weed, livelihood can be created by establishing a small scale mushroom cultivation, using water hyacinth as substrate and fertiliser. Also a handicraft industry for furniture and other items from dried stems of water hyacinth may be established. The river and the people could thus feed off each other.

        If one could start a safari on the river, from Delhi to Brij Bhoomi, it  would help in the  understanding  of river systems and encourage eco-tourism.

                 The Yamuna along with the Ganga are two of India’s most sacred rivers. Since time immemorial religious texts and rituals have sung paeans to the divine ‘sisters’. Our national anthem extols them and we fold our hands and bow before the flowing waters. Yet we seem to have no qualms in reducing them to the levels of fetid sewers. Enough damage has been done, it is now in the hands of the upcoming generation to create awareness and galvanize people into action. q

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