Some recent relevant articles in the Pioneer

In "No Clean Yamuna in time for Games>", Sheela Dixit, the "mayor" of Delhi is having to counter charges from the BJP that money earmarked for Yamuna cleaning is going to the right places. At any rate, cleaning the Yamuna is on the radar in the Delhi news and editorial pages. Here is a summary of the situation as reported in the Pioneer a couple of days ago. The Yamuna is today what the Thames was 150 years ago. That article is posted below in full.

On a more hopeful note, Ravi Shankar is participating in the move to get the Yamuna cleaned up. BVHA activists should take note and approach Ravi Shankar at the Hardwar Kumbha Mela, where he will be in a couple of weeks.

Yamuna Expressway to be eight lanes. The same company building the bridge by Keshi Ghat is constructing the expressway linking Noida to Agra, and beyond, it seems. That project is encountering difficulties of another sort. Taking Dalit lands for expressway.

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Yamuna today is what Thames was 150 yrs ago

Malvika Baru Sharma | New Delhi (The Pioneer)

The river Yamuna, having been declared dead with its water all poisonous from 22 drains from all over Delhi feeding 800 million gallons of sewage into it per day, can kill a healthy human being. It's the rapid industrialisation that is helping the inevitable pollute to the river, pointed out Robert Oates, Director, Thames Rivers Restoration Trust (TRRT), and the industrial revolution of India is 10 times that of England when it took place.

"It is not just Government's but every citizen of Delhi's responsibility to make sure that the river's cleanliness is restored and its purity revived," he said. The Indian National Trust For Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) South Asia Network for Dams, Rivers & People (SANDRP), Toxics Link and Yamuna Jiye Abhiyan (YJA) organised a lecture by Robert Oates of TRRT in the Capital on Tuesday.

In a presentation, the TRRT detailed how the whole Thames river restoration project was undertaken. TRRT is an independent charity in the UK dedicated to improving the Thames river in London and its tributaries to benefit people and nature and it has done some pioneering work in recent years. Robert explained that what all difficulties TRRT had to face 150 years back will not be faced by Delhi's governance with all its knowledge and technical advances like GIS at their behest. "It might not take as long as 50 years for the whole restoration project of Yamuna. It might take even less than 15 years if all goes to plan," he said.

Yamuna today is what London's Thames was 150 years ago, with all its water polluted almost irrevocably. It seemed impossible to restore it to its natural state, but it was good governance that brought life back to the river. Oates was there to share all the experiences of his to revive the Thames and if there were any lessons for the efforts to help revive the river Yamuna in Delhi. SK Mishra, Chairman, INTACH, Ramaswamy Iyer and Manoj Mishra of YJA pointed out along with Oates the right measures that should be undertaken to improve the health of Yamuna. The drains dumping the sewage and the encumbered water flow are the two major causes that impede the river.

"There are just 17 sewage treatment plants which are not functioning to their designed capacity, to serve the drains feeding 1,200 km of the Yamuna... Instead, the Government is investing 1,500 crore rupees on an interception treatment plant which is not even capable of treating the sewage," said the presentation.

Thanks to Anant M. Vyas for the head's up on that article.

Is this Vrindavan's future?