- Thousands of crores spent on Yamuna Action Plan in three decades, but Yamuna continues to die
- The current initiative is the part of Rs. 400 crore recently alloted to preven Yamuna Pollution
2024.07.04 (Vrindavan Today News): The work to tap four major drains flowing into the Yamuna in Mathura-Vrindavan has commenced. Additionally, land has been acquired from the Irrigation Department for the construction of a sewage treatment plant (STP) at Gokul Barrage, a project that had been stalled for years due to the lack of the availability of land. If all goes well, within two years, there will be no drains left polluting the Yamuna in Mathura-Vrindavan.
A meeting of Yamuna Action Plan was held on Wednesday at the conference room of the District administrative headquarters. The meeting was chaired by Yamuna Action Plan Nodal Officer and ADM Finance Yoganand Pandey. During the meeting it was revealed that the work on tapping the drain from Kosi to Varah Ghat in Vrindavan has begun. This drain has been the major contributor to Yamuna plight in Vrindavan. It was disclosed in the meeting that the Kosi drain will also be controlled at Kosi and Chhata, significantly reducing its flow in Vrindavan. Similarly, the tapping of Ambakhar, Kala Patthar, and Aurangabad up and down stream drains in Mathura has also started.
The long-standing issue of land acquisition for the STP at Gokul Barrage has been resolved with approval from the Cabinet meeting. The STP will be constructed on the Irrigation Department’s land. Shri Gopeshwar Nath Chaturvedi, the petitioner in a Public Interest Litigation on Yamuna stressed that with the land issue resolved, the work should now accelerate to complete the tapping projects swiftly. The nodal officer has directed to expedite the work.
Additionally, Nodal Officer instructed Shri Pankaj Yadav, the Regional Officer of the Uttar Pradesh Pollution Control Board, to immediately halt operations of all the pollutant industries in the city.
The nodal officer has also ordered the completion of the electrical connection for the electric crematorium at Dhruv Ghat within a week to facilitate its trial. The meeting also discussed river police and biomedical waste issues. Chaturvedi highlighted the need for functional pumps in Mansi Ganga ahead of the upcoming Mudiya Purnima fair, which attracts millions of devotees. The nodal officer assured an inspection and provision of clean water soon.
