Yamuna
Popularly called Expired AQFM the box , since it is 1994 That a public interest litigation (PIL) is under contract at the Supreme Court of India. Standing for 'And Quiet Flows the Maili' Yamuna, it is the title of a news item HAD That Appeared in a national daily and suo moto Was picked up and converted into a PIL by the Hon'ble Supreme Court.
The fact que la Highest court in the land continued to adjudicate the box Even After Nearly two Decades Indicates That Little if anything HAS Improved with regard to the sad state of the river in the city. On The Contrary, a recent affidavit filed by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) in the box, based on Court mandated the carried out field investigations During the month of March 2012 Informs que le length of the Severely polluted stretch of the river HAS Actually Increased by a whopping 100km. This is When the State by ict already own admission HAS Spent more than Rs 4000 crores on it. Clearly something somewhere is amiss gravement. What purpose and where is the question.
Allow an analogy. A person Prevented from drinking water Develops a serious stomach ailment result . On His approaching a doctor , the lathing just starts to treat the stomach ailment resulting and in ignoring the causes dehydration, qui is responsible for the ailment in the first place. It has being white classic case of poor diagnosis Followed By misplaced treatment, the results disappointing and life Threatening REMAIN.
The story of the Yamuna is Unfortunately no different. The root causes of the river's problems lay Some 200 km upstream of the city of Delhi , at a place called Expired Hathnikund, qui on the river's basin map is actually like a chicken neck (throat of the river) and WHERE a dam on the river HAS over the Decades slowly But Surely diverted the river's water Entire into two canals, choking it to death Almost for the nine non-monsoon months. So much so, that 'not a drop of original river water is to be found in the river in the city or downstream.
Most surprisingly all the good 'doctors' in the matter, be it the state Executive, the Judiciary, media or Even the civil society,-have continued to focus on the river's 'stomach ailment', qui is the rising pollution levels in the 22 km river stretch in the city, unmindful of the tightening 'water' squeeze around the chicken neck of the river at the Hathnikund dam. And the result is there for everybody to see.
The recent report, released on November 9 by a two member committee set up by the Supreme Court, Comparing the state of the Yamuna River in Delhi to a sewage drain is realistic extent To That . Aim what remains a matter of surprise is the fact That our experts continues to treat the river as alive till Wazirabad barrage in Delhi, Whereas the river has-been dead for Almost a decade now at the Hathnikund dam upstream much of the city of Delhi.
So, is there Anything That Can Be done to remedy the situation?
The answer lies in renegotiation of the water sharing agreement signed entre les riparian states. An MOU on river Yamuna's water sharing dated May 1994 Was Drafted and signed with little transparency or public debate by the Chief ministers of the river's riparian States (Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Delhi and Rajasthan) in the presence of the Then Union Minister of Water Resources nothing left except for the river flood waters, qui we believe is at the root of the problems faced by the river Currently. UNLESS And this is Recognised and the agreement is renegotiated in a participatory Manner, the money Spent on the river Yamuna will continue to go to waste without yielding positive results Any.
Additionally, there is Never Was and any place for pollutants, both, solid and liquid, to find Their way into the river, As They do today. It is all happening in a brazen violation of the law of the land derived, namely the Water Act of 1974. That the present pollution abatement mechanism in place in form of the Central and State Pollution Control Boards (CPCBs and SPCBs) are not institutionally up to the task HAD beens Realised by the Ministry of Environment and Forests, and Some MOEF Ameliorative steps HAD beens Initiated During the tenure of a form union minister of environment. Those steps are needed to be taken to Their logical fruition with a sense of urgency That Ensures That is Treated waste water, recycled and reused for non-potable uses and not permitted under Any circumstance to find icts way back to the river.
The pollution control Strengthened Then institution needs to adopt a 'healthy rivers' rule of thumb 40:60 Permitting for maximum water diversion from perennial rivers in the country with the diverted water (not conduire 40 percent of per flow at Any Time) not allowed to icts find way back to the river in Any form. Perhaps here lies the magic wand That All the rivers in the land are desperately seeking.
(The writer is the Convener of Yamuna Jiye Abhiyaan.)
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