UP govt working on plan to revitalise Yamuna

Environmentalists in Agra hail the chief minister’s initiative

AGRA:

Environmentalists in Agra have welcomed the assurance by the chief minister’s office that there is a plan to revitalise Yamuna by stopping sewage flow into the river.

During a visit to the city on Sunday, chief minister Yogi Adityanath had walked along the riverbed of Yamuna and enquired about the lack of water in the river. Referring to the report published by Hindustan Times in this regard, the office of chief minister mentioned on twitter that the state government is working on a plan to revitalise Yamuna.

Brij Khandelwal, convenor of ‘River Connect’, an organisation working for Yamuna in Agra, welcomed the chief minister’s gesture.

“Availability of water and its flow round the year needs to be ensured. For this, the office of chief minister can take up the issue with Haryana government, which should ensure release of at least 350 cusecs water into Yamuna. With BJP in power in both of states (Haryana and UP), the task seems to be a practical one now,” suggested Khandelwal.

“Sewage treatment plants are already installed, but they are not delivering the required results. This results in inflow of sewage into Yamuna. The chief minister should bring to book those guilty for failure of previous plans,” demanded Khandelwal.

“In the last couple of decades, it’s for the first time that a chief minister walked down the riverbed to get first-hand information about Yamuna.

This sounds optimistic because the man heading the state machinery has himself seen the reality and cannot be misled by officials on the condition of Yamuna,” stated Rajan Kishore, veteran environmentalist.

“We need to support the steps taken by the chief minister towards Yamuna in Agra. A letter will be written to him to apprise him of the past projects undertaken for the river,” stated Kishore who had been member of environmental groups which fought for revival of Yamuna in 1980s and 90s.

“The chief minister skipped the formal stage programme organised at the riverbank and surprised organisers by crossing the dusty terrain under the scorching sun. This reflects his intention,” stated KC Jain, secretary, Agra Development Foundation.

“District officials are asking us the details now and it seems government machinery is in no mood to take the instructions by chief minister lightly,” added Jain.

Chief minister Yogi Adityanath had on Sunday said that projects be taken up for Yamuna. During a meeting with officials, he maintained his stand for better availability of water for Agra and asked district magistrate of Mathura to get hurdles in way of Gangajal project removed and even talked about having water from Chambal for Agra.