The Yamuna

The Pandit stands on the bank of Yamuna and exclaims that the river is a part of the Hindu culture, and its condition is pinching every Hindu’s heart all across the world.

“The Yamuna is considered as the holiest river in India and its condition is currently in the worst form. The river today has no qualities of water left, and it has been killed by human activities”, an activist exclaims. All Indians are familiar with the Yamuna River and very well know about its state, but we are not considerate enough about it. We have seen people protesting for cleaning a river and working towards it till their last breath. A few months back, activist GD Aggarwal lost his life protesting for a clean Ganga and still, the condition is stagnant. The same is with the Yamuna River, where oxygen levels are zero in the river and there is no aquatic life.

For Hindus, the river is a holy one, and each year thousands of Hindus gather around the banks of the river to take a dip and immerse themselves in the water, which they believe that it brings them good health and prosperity. In places like Agra and Mathura, people are even consuming this water. The people also tell, that the water refining tanks have not been serviced for five years and they have been consuming the water directly from the Yamuna. When they were asked about medical issues from consuming this water, they introduce us to a person in the town who has not been able to walk. The person tells us that even to urinate, he needs to have the assistance of a person and he very rarely gets out of the house, with the help of 3-4 individuals. He only takes a few medicines that are comfortable for his pocket, and even after the doctor’s advice of consuming packaged liquid, he consumes the Yamuna river water, because of the economic problems. Even the villagers know about the water they consume, but cannot change it because there is no other option to live.

Further, we moved on to the Taj Mahal in Agra and there we talk to a local guide who tells us that Shah Jahan decided to build the Taj Mahal at that location just because of the proximity to the Yamuna river. For the Mughals, the Yamuna was a river from heaven just because of the water quality.

The Uttarakhand high court states that the river is a living entity and it carries all basic human fundamental rights. By now politics has failed to clean the river and now the people of villages in and around the river have taken the initiative, people gather and pray around the river. But this is just hope and the actual work is still expected.

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