Agra/Mathura, March 26 (IANS) Activists gathered along the banks of the Yamuna here to demand an early clean up of the river that is the lifeline to millions in northern India.
Dozens of people offered special prayers on the river bank and sought the cleaning of the ghats and the demolition of illegal structures along the river.
Music maestro Acharya Jaimini said in Vrindavan that concretization of the river banks was proceeding at an alarming pace.
In Agra, a meeting of the activists demanded to know what happened to the huge sums of money spent on supposedly cleaning the 1,376-km river.
"Thousands of crores of rupees have gone down the drain in the past two decades," activist Shravan Kumar Singh moaned.
The activists demanded a "white paper" on all the expenditure incurred by Uttar Pradesh and central authorities on cleaning the river.
One activist, Anand Rai, said the treatment plants along the river bank were not working and all the sewage of Agra was flowing directly into the river.
"It is a criminal offence to pollute community water resources, but the UP Pollution Control Board officials are sleeping," Rai said.
Abhinaya Prasad of Adhar, an NGO, drew attention to the heaps of leather cuttings from shoe units piled up along the river bank, polluting the water.
Chandra Kant Tripathi, registrar of the Central Hindi Institute in Agra, suggested construction of new ghats along the river and monitoring of the treatment plants.
"If the river survived and was restored to good health, Agra will see a revival from the present decadence and degeneration," he added.
"Right now everyone is dumping polythene bags and all the waste into the river which is bad. The River Police formed some years ago is nowhere to be seen," said Surendra Sharma, president of the Braj Heritage Society.
The Yamuna originates at Yamunotri in Uttarakhand and merges with the Ganga in Allahabad.
Samsung Galaxy A32 4G launched in India, know the price and features of the phone
Legendary South Korean tech company Samsung has launched its most awaited smartphone Galaxy A32 i
The Tis Hazari court on Friday sent Chief Minister's aide Bibhav Kumar to 14-day judicial custody
Politics has now heated up in the Tikunia area of Lakhimpur Kheri after eight people were k
Virat Kohli once again did not bat in the match played between Bangalore and Rajasthan on Tuesday
Antilia suspect carcass: conspiracy feared from Tihar, cell phone found from cell of terrorists
Based on information received from the Special Cell of Delhi Police, Tihar Jail authorities raide
The issue of dispute between Lakshadweep and Maldives is heated. Till now, from films to the cric
Earthquake In Uttarkashi: The earth shook again in Uttarkashi, earthquake tremors felt
Earthquake tremors woke people from their sleep on Thursday (today) morning in Uttarkashi distric
Farhan Akhtar and Shibani Dandekar Wedding Date and Venue: Bollywood actor, writer, and director
Karwa Chauth is the festival of wishing for unbroken good fortune. This time the worship of the m
Central Government: Government companies go to bankruptcy court to close loss-making units
The government has said that government companies should go to bankruptcy court to wind up loss-m
