Is Haryana’s diversion of much of the Yamuna waters at the Hathnikund barrage to blame for the drying up of the Yamuna downstream during the non-monsoon months? And is this phenomenon endangering the Taj Mahal, located on the Yamuna bank, with wood in its foundation also drying up, thereby becoming vulnerable to termites? Conservationists believe so. Yamuna Jiye Abhiyaan’s Convenor Manoj Mishra has written to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, pointing out the threat to the Mughal monument on account of the Yamuna’s severely diminished flow, and the urgent need to address the problem.
While mentioning the Hathnikund barrage, which became operational in early 2002, as the main instrument for diverting the river waters, the missive also draws attention to the damage caused by pollution, hydropower projects, concretisation of floodplains and climate change. It proposes that the Government prepare a white paper on causes of the Yamuna’s decline, and remedies, geared to its revival.
Since early this year, concerned citizens have been highlighting the danger to the survival of the mausoleum, one of India’s and Western Uttar Pradesh’s biggest tourist attractions. The shadow of human folly seems to constantly loom over Taj, which Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan created in memory of his beloved wife Mumtaz Mahal over three and a half centuries ago. Though declared a world heritage site by UNESCO in 1983, administrators have been extremely careless about protecting the pristine beauty of the structure, which has weathered numerous assaults.
Yellowing of the priceless marble by smoke from the Mathura refinery, located nearby, and other chemical emanations from factories forced the Supreme Court’s intervention in the mid-1990s, on the plea of conservationists. The court ruled on December 30, 1995 that no polluting fuels such as coal/coke could be used by factories and industries in the Taj Trapezium Zone, a 10,400 sq km protective area around the Taj. They would either have to switch over to natural gas, relocate outside the zone, or shut down. The specified zone includes 40 protected monuments, including Taj, Fatehpur Sikri and Agra Fort.
This crisis was soon followed by another, during Ms. Mayawati’s third stint as Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister. The Taj Heritage Corridor scam, entailing building of shops and other concrete structures close to the Taj — a project that endangered the monument — cost her the job. She was forced to quit in August 2003, with corruption charges being levied against her.
After her return to power in May 2007, work on the Yamuna Expressway, earlier called Taj Expressway, and conceived during her earlier tenure, proceeded. The 165 km-long, six-lane expressway from Noida to Agra is faulted by conservationists on these grounds: one, heavy traffic would vastly increase air pollution, thereby corroding protected monuments and environment; two, like the Taj Corridor, which drove Ms. Mayawati and her men out of office in 2003, it revives the threat of concrete structures impinging upon the Taj Mahal; and, three, the townships and industries planned along the route, in tandem with a promoter, would invariably empty their filth into the Yamuna, which is gasping for breath.
The Supreme Court in 2010 questioned the environmental clearance given to the Yamuna Expressway, since all ventures in the Taj Trapezium Zone first require the apex court’s sanction. That had not been granted. Now with the Taj’s survival being linked to restoration of the Yamuna’s flow, the apex court in October directed the Archaeological Survey of India, Uttar Pradesh Government and the Union Government to enquire into the report of the Taj being endangered by the drying up of the Yamuna.
Those campaigning since many years to save India’s rivers see a ray of hope in the Allahabad High Court judgement of April 11, prohibiting construction within 500 metres of the highest flood level of the Ganga and the Yamuna, adjoining Ganga. Though the verdict concerns Allahabad, activists are elated as, to quote YJA Convenor Manoj Mishra, it identifies the river’s “natural limit as its highest flood level (floodplain) and sets a limit of 500 metres there from, in which no construction is to be made”. The 2005 Delhi High Court order, too, had ordered removal of any construction in an area within 300 metres of the Yamuna. But it did not specify the natural limit. Hence, DDA and other state agencies continue to build on the floodplains and ground water recharge area.
Distressed by the pitiable condition of the Yamuna, sants, residents and NGOs of Brajbhumi, sanctified by the divine Radha-Krishna lore, have been campaigning to let the river flow freely. Barsana’s Ramesh Baba is seen as the guiding force. People tried to mobilise support for the cause by marching through the terrain the Yamuna covers and especially Brajbhumi, halting at villages and towns and inspiring locals to join the campaign.
The padyatra was launched in March from the Sangam at Allahabad. Participants have threatened to open the gates of all the barrages that have obstructed and diverted the free flow of the river. Bhanu Pratap Singh, president of the Bharatiya Kisan Union, explains that water should be allowed to flow uninterrupted. Only the overflow or surplus water can be stored.
Water experts concur with this view, observing that such free flow is a self-renewing and cleansing mechanism for rivers, which thereby manage to get rid of the pollution load. This ensures their survival. In the Yamuna’s case, it would also ensure the survival of great heritage sites such as the Taj and Brajbhumi.
