World Environment Day 2005

Delhi volunteers, along with the iVolunteer staff, celebrated World Environment Day by organising a walk along the river Yamuna. The idea was to see how an alive and healthy Yamuna becomes a Nalla (drain) just after entering Delhi.

The day began at 5:45 a.m. when hired vehicles reached our office and volunteers started pouring in. Seema (who handles iVolunteer’s Foreign Volunteering Programme), along with the driver, headed to meet the orphan children of Udyan Care at Mayur Vihar. Sujata (who handles iVolunteer’s India Fellow Programme) joined the group here while Madhukar (iVolunteer Delhi’s Centre InCharge) stayed in the office to receive the volunteers. It was only around 7:30 a.m. (30 minutes behind schedule) that all 32 participants gathered together. Our group comprised of 6 children from Udyan Care, Mr. Rajiv Singh (a passionate Yamuna activist), Mr. Siddhant Aney (from 'We For Yamuna'), 4 of us from iVolunteer and 20 volunteers of iVolunteer and We for Yamuna.

Our first stop was Wazirabad Upstream to see the clear Yamuna water. The ride was great because for the first time we saw the village side of Delhi with fields on both sides of the roads. The sand-paved way at the end led us straight to the river - clean, green and full of birds, snails, fish and other water insects. The Yamuna before our eyes was brimming with life - people bathing and animals drinking water from the same source. The inviting water was too hard to resist. All of us let ourselves loose and plunged right in, some searching for snails, others simply splashing around. All we could hear were sounds of laughter and happy screams - that too when the morning sun shone brightly above our heads.

Our next destination was Wazirabad Barrage. Hardly 3-4 kms from the upstream area, the Barrage separates the Uttar Pradesh water from the Delhi water of Yamuna. Here too, we heard screams but of the Yamuna’s plight. There she was, crammed with so-called devotees’ offerings of flowers packed in polythene bags, shampoo pouches, empty packets of chips, glass pieces and other extremely non-Yamuna-friendly articles.

The next point was Najafgarh Drain. Mr. Singh informed us that 15,000 lakh litres of municipal wastewater gets disposed into the Yamuna everyday. This wastewater, which is treated water, is actually black in colour and it is this black treated water that mixes with the Yamuna. The entire area smells like a rotten egg.

Our last point was Qudsia Ghat. In its hay days, Qudsia Ghat witnessed much ado and fanfare and now its dilapidated conditions tell the tale. What we saw was simply horrifying! Small shops selling prasad for a temple supposedly of Yamuna Devi lined the route to the Ghat. Devotees with aspiring eyes sat cros-legged beside the Pandits. And at a distance, under a bridge, was a thriving community of rag pickers, lazily lying around waiting for their customers to throw some rubbish from above the bridge, toppling over the barricades installed by the Government.

This despicable situation made even the slightest hope for the Yamuna’s survival go away. So, mourning the death of the Yamuna with grief-stricken hearts, we said our goodbyes and headed back vowing to make a difference the best way we can in our individual capacities.