Activists march in Mathura against Yamuna pollution

Vrindavan: Hundreds of `Yamuna-Bhakts` and protestors will begin a march Tuesday from Keshi Ghat to the Mathura district magistrate`s office in Uttar Pradesh, demanding to make the Yamuna river pollution-free.

The Mathura district officials Monday tried to persuade the activists to give up the march, but they said they would march to force the Uttar Pradesh government to take immediate steps to construct a parallel canal to divert polluted water from the river and also to tap all the drains opening into the river. The talks were held Monday between the officials and Yamuna Bachao Andolan leader Sant Jai Krishan Das, and Bhartiya Kisan Union (Bhanu group) leader Bhanu Pratap Singh. The campaigners said neither the Delhi nor the Haryana governments have done much to curb pollution of the river. Campaigners from Barsana, including Radha Krishan Shastri, are joining the march. Meanwhile, the Yamuna river was choked with Durga idols after the immersion ceremony Monday. In Agra alone, more than 3,000 idols were immersed at the Haathi Ghat and Balkeshwar Ghat, the embankments of the river. "The politics of pollution must stop. It`s of no use blaming one agency or state. In the Taj city, despite the orders of the Supreme Court, dhobis (washermen) have not been shifted from the river banks. Dairies within the city and the crematorium at Taj Ganj have also not been shifted," said Surendra Sharma, Heritage Society president.