Taj City Activists March To Highlight Plight Of Dying Yamuna

Source: IANS

Save our dying heritage “Mother Yamuna” was the call raised by hundreds of concerned river activists, and civil society leaders as they marched in a procession from the Taj Corridor to the Etmauddaula View Point on the eve of the World Environment Day.

The protesting marchers demanded early construction of a barrage downstream of the Taj Mahal, dredging of the river bed and uninterrupted minimum flow of fresh water round the year.

The foot march by green activists was organised by the River Connect Campaign, which has long been demanding formulation of a National River Policy and constitution of a Central Rivers Management Authority.

The marchers carrying banners and posters raised slogans, drawing public attention to the sad plight of Yamuna, reduced to a vast sewage canal.

The lack of water in the Yamuna has raised the pollution level and constitutes a real threat to the Taj Mahal and other monuments sited on the banks of the river Yamuna, environmentalist Devashish Bhattacharya said.

Agra Civil Society leader Anil Sharma said the state and the Central governments had made several tall promises to rejuvenate and restore past glory of one of the holiest rivers of India, but sadly nothing concrete had been done so far.

The promised ferry service from Delhi to Agra remained a dream, Sharma added. The long march concluded with a ‘havan’ for ‘shuddhikaran ‘ of politicians who had betrayed the cause of Yamuna.

Meanwhile, in April, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) had directed the Chief Secretary of Uttar Pradesh to ensure remedial action in matters pertaining to pollution of the river Yamuna in Mathura and Agra.

The NGT was hearing two applications on the pollution of the river. The applications alleged discharge of untreated sewage into the Yamuna in Mathura and pollution of the river in Agra by local authorities, private businesses and commercial establishments.

A bench chaired by Justice A.K. Goel noted that, in pursuance of the tribunal’s earlier orders, the state pollution control board (PCB) had filed separate reports acknowledging the pollution of the river Yamuna, including the discharge of 131 million litres per day (MLD) of untreated sewage into it in Mathura and the failure of the authorities to take necessary remedial action in Agra.

The bench, also comprising judicial member Justice Sudhir Agarwal and experts A Senthil Vel and Afroz Ahmad, noted the discharge of untreated sewage into the river in Mathura, and added that there were “huge gaps and deficiencies in sewage management” in Agra.

Regarding the sewage management in Agra, the bench noted that out of the 286 MLD of sewage flowing into the drains, only 58.25 MLD was tapped and no information was provided about the wastewater in the sewage network. Though the installed capacity of nine sewage treatment plants (STPs) was 220.75 MLD, their capacity utilisation remained at 175 MLD.

“Treated sewage is still being discharged into [the] Yamuna instead of its utilisation. There appears to be no urgency for providing STPs,” the bench said.

The green panel had directed the state’s chief secretary to ensure remedial action in the two cities, by convening a meeting with the officers concerned within a month. The officers were to plan within two months for the interception of untapped drains and their diversion to the STPs, the tribunal has required.

The tribunal had also directed the officers to study the chlorination method and treatment of industrial effluents.

With respect to Agra, the tribunal asked the officers to look into the full utilisation of the existing nine STPs and ensure that the treated effluents are used for secondary purposes.

The bench had also directed consideration of other aspects, including interception of partially tapped drains and their diversion to STPs, evaluation of the performance of in-situ projects and fortnightly monitoring of existing treatment of waste water with reference to consent conditions.

The tribunal also directed the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) to file a report on chlorination, ferti-irrigation, performance of STPs and in-situ remediation projects in Agra.

The tribunal ordered the filing of reports within four months, detailing action taken. Further proceedings were scheduled for August 23.