Okhla: A barrage of problems

Not very long ago, Delhiites went to the Yamuna riverfront at Okhla for picnic. Not very long ago, events like the National Sailing Regatta were held at Kalindi Kunj, Okhla. And, not very long ago, there was abundant fish in the Yamuna.

Imagine there was a river - open panel discussion at Okhla Barrage

Yamuna Katha core team member Bhola Kashyap, 41, is a resident of Madanpur Khadar but spends most of the time at the Okhla ghat. Bhola is a fisherman and also a ‘life guard’ for the Okhla ghat. He belongs to a community called kewat, which are traditionally into fishing.
Not much into studies, Bhola jumped into business at a tender age. He now has the fishing trade license for the area downstream of Okhla barrage. He also has a number of boats. “Rozi roti hee Jamuna se hai. (My very livelihood comes from Yamuna).” They call the river as ‘Jamuna Maiyya’.

Chothe Khan, Bhola and Shubham Mishra 

“Our community’s link with the Yamuna is beyond words,” Babita said. They have a Yamuna idol and the lady of the house worships it daily.
The time and the location for the open forum discussion ‘Imagine there was a river’ was apt. Coming days after the Durga puja visarjan (immersion), the river bank lay scattered with an array of wooden and plaster of Paris skeletons used to support Durga puja idols. Much of them had refused to flow away with the river and came floating back to the bank making it appalling than ever. 

Durga Puja idols

... turning from sacred idols into pollution

On the last day of the Yamuna Katha, Rakhshanda Jalil from the Council for Social Development and Arif Ali, who teaches at the Jamia Milia Islamia joined the Yamuna Katha team here. Also present was the Yamuna Katha team: Anaya, Shubham, Bhola, Chhotu, Babita, Gayatri, Rashid, Kalia, Aparna, Arif, Rakhshanda, Regina and Vidhu. Three fishermen from the locality Bhupender Kanhaiyyalal Sahani, Aseshwar Sahani (Bihar, Muzzafarpur) and Mohammed Shakil Khan along with Bhola’s uncle Ratan Singh too joined in.
Arif initiated the discussion expressing sadness about the sorry state of the Yamuna today. “I have spent my childhood on the banks of the Yamuna. Later on when I travelled all over the world and saw how in foreign lands how they keep their rivers clean, it pains me more over the plight of Yamuna,” he rued. 

Prof. Arif Ali 

Rakshanda joined in to add that she has seen the area changing drastically and for bad. “We have turned blind towards the river. We have stopped coming here and may be, that’s the reason for deteriorating conditions.”
Bhupender, Aseshwar and Shakil informed they use fish nets to catch fish and stay on the Yamuna banks itself. “But pollution has brought down the quantity of the catch. There is less and less water over the years.” 
An academician that he is, Arif quickly presented the statistical reality: “Delhi has only 2 % of entire length of Yamuna, but we contribute up to 90 % of its pollution.”
Sitting on a riverfront of toxic foam today, Okhla was not always like this always. One of the oldest villages of Delhi, maximum of the residents are original Delhi walas, prominent among them being herdsmen, gwale, ghosi, kumhars etc (names of the communities drawn from their traditional occupation). 
The Okhla riverfront was developed as a picnic spot way back in 1870s by the British. But up to 1950s and 1960s, there was no public transport to reach here and only people with own vehicle came. That was why the accessibility was restricted. It was an isolated, but a vibrant riverfront.  

Local fisherman engaging in the discussion

But slowly the city’s population started being a burden on the river. Pollution has almost killed the river. Bhola chipped in, rather he is confident: if the river becomes pollution free again, only then people of Delhi will flock to it. It prompted Shubham to warn: though it is important that people keep come to the river, but there has to be a debate as to what kind of a riverfront we want? Involvement of locals is equally important too.
Aparna posed a practical problem: “Bhola wants more and more clear water for fish. A person sitting at Dwarka wants the river’s clear water for drinking. Bhola and I do not speak the same language. We do not share a common past. So how can we talk of a common future? Who will work out the framework?”
Regina put the things in context as she pointed out that it is necessary to discuss all kinds of usage of the river, river water and river floodplains too. Quickly Bhola vent his ire at the pollution caused by Durga puja immersion and other such occasion. “Nobody fines them for pollution?” 

Gayatri Chatterjee, Regina Dube, Rakshandra Jalil

Aparna justified, “Visarjan can be seen. What about that which is unseen? The industrial pollution cannot be seen.” 
Bhola refused to buy the argument. “Before the Visarjan, the Chhath puja etc, the entire machinery is put to work … they clean the ghats, they release more water and for a day or two, Yamuna and the banks are clean. If they can do it for three times a year, why can’t they do it for rest of the year?”
The session ended on a high note as Rakshanda supported Bhola, “While we ponder for long term things and make plans, I think Bhola’s idea is ‘doable’.”

Fisherman fishing in filthy water in front of Okhla Barrage

And with renewed vigour ‘it is possible’, the Yamuna Katha team headed for lunch, after which was the winding up session at the hotel. 

Majnu Ka Tila: Historic to modern via filth and sewage

A filthy trickle of a channel that is called Yamuna flowed away from the bank. Watching over her students at the Yamuna floodplains at Majnu Ka Tila, Urmi Chakraborty went back in time.
Her first memory of the Yamuna was when she traveled from Dehradun to Delhi long time ago. Crossing the Yamuna bridge to enter Delhi, she came face to face with the black and filthy water, actually a big drain. “I was disheartened. This was not the river we taught in schools,” Urmi, now a teacher at Sardar Patel Vidyalaya (SPV), Lodi Colony recalled.


Majnu Ka Tila’s Tibetan Colony was the stop two on day one of the Yamuna Katha. Dorjee Khandup, resident welfare association’s Pradhan gave a brief history of the colony. The colony was set up with 361 families on 10.2 acre area in 1961. The Government of India gave them the place after several people fled Tibet following the Dalai Lama. 

Dorje Donghup giving insights in Majnu Ka Tila's history

A short tour of the colony and then, the Yamuna Katha members were at the riverfront. The access to the river was between two homesteads through a broken high brick wall. Rinzin Wangmo, president of the women’s association from the Tibetan colony explained, “This wall is to stop people from throwing garbage into the river. (But) it also has a negative fallout. Youngsters are hardly aware there is a river beyond.” 

Rinzin Wangmo giving insights on Majnu Ka Tila's resident's attitude towards Yamuna

For most present, this was possibly the first actual encounter with Yamuna riverfront. Vast expanse of soil-cum-sand neatly cut into rectangular or square plots for growing vegetables. Traces of garbage, filth marked the human imprint. A narrow raised dirt track through the farms led to the trickle of a river, stark black. Migrant labours had built kuchcha houses  (wooden shacks) on the floodplain and with minimal essential things carry out their lives for at least six months on the riverbank. 


Urmi’s fascination – nay passion – for rivers started with her days in West Bengal. Visit to the Ganges at Kolkata was a regular feature. Then with her husband’s transferable job, she moved to places and enjoyed rivers far and wide – Narmada at Ankaleshwar in Gujarat; “filthy” Brahmaputra at Guwahaty; Bindal at Dehradun, Ganges again at Haridwar. “I stayed at Dehradun for so long, went to Haridwar but never once for a dubki (holy dip in a sacred river),” she added.     


Although staying in Delhi since last three years, it was only recently that she came into direct contact with the Yamuna when students of class X eco-club were carrying out an ‘Urban Sanitation Project’. “Students are enthusiastic enough and have strong values too. But, we never brought any students to the riverfront. Now I think, I will ... specially to show them the visible difference ‘before’ and ‘after’ Wazirabad,” she promised.


Vidhu Narayanan, 39, Urmi’s colleague can identify with the “distance” between a citizen and the river. A typical Delhi girl, she spent her childhood in RK Puram government colony. In all her growing years, she remembered crossing the Yamuna only once to reach a place called Yamunapaar (trans-Yamuna). 

Vidhu Narayanan during a discussion with residents of the Tibetan colony

However, things changed when in 2003 she shifted into a flat at Mayur Vihar in east Delhi. “The first thing my husband and I noticed was the Yamuna from our back window,” she exclaimed.


Now, at the Majnu Ka Tila riverfront with hardly any water in the river, Vidhu was shocked. “During monsoon when the juggis (shanties) come to the road side, we know there is flood happening. I remember last year’s flood distinctly. The river was full of water. Where has the water gone now?”


“It is not a natural river anymore. There is a drain emptying sewage right downstream the Wazirabad barrage,” informed Dwijender Kalia, core group member and river specialist. 
Soaking in the experience, the students and the Yamuna Katha members explored every possible aspect of the riverfront. Nobody kept track of time and was reminded that food was waiting for them. Wonderful lunch at a Tibetan eatery followed.


Panel discussion: “Majnu ka Tila and Yamuna – Strong or loose connection?”


Post lunch session saw a panel discussion at the Tibetan school compound. GIZ’s Regina Dube introduced the topic. Dorje briefly talked how the colony has changed over the years and the problems they are facing currently owing to the narrow congested lanes and their equation with Yamuna.  


Rinzin said, “In order not to pollute Yamuna, we pick up the garbage and burn it. But it is the polluted water that comes from upstream is what disturbs me.

Burning garbage to avoid river pollution - reality in Majnu Ka Tila

Delhi Jal Board’s Ajay Gupta said, “Unplanned growth has led to the pollution. However, we are hopeful and confident that with the interceptor sewer programme under the Yamuna Action Plan (YAP), Yamuna will be clean in three-four years.”

Members of Delhi Jal Board engaging into the discussion

When it was suggested to Rinzin to go for composting at the farm plots at the riverfront, she immediately said those farms are not ours. This prompted GIZ’s Aparna Das to put a question: “Whose river is this?” 

Farm plots at the riverbank

Migration has prompted unplanned growth and led to heavy urbanisation. But this has happened so rapidly and therefore unplanned. Dwijender Kalia pointed out “The plan is always made for long a term. The DJB plan – YAP – is only for four years … any plan should be made for at least 40 years.”


Atul Jain, who works for promotion of organic farming explained, “ The river should not be looked as mere resource for drinking water … river’s have their own eco-system. Each stakeholder has a distinct role for ensuring a pollution free river.”


The message that everybody took home was: “It is possible.” 

To a question, can Yamuna be pollution free? Urmi affirmed, “Yes, one day for sure. But it is not for a single person to do this job. Everybody has to pitch in” even as Vidhu showed the way, “I have already started working on a module for my students”

Till we meet again

“It is only now that I have started to understand what this is all about and now its time to say good bye,” said an enthusiastic Chhotu Khan, one of the team members of Yamuna Katha.

The group of Yamuna Katha yatris had been together since the evening of October 11, 2011 (Tuesday). It was a motley group of people from diverse background, with no connect with each other, but necessarily, all concerned about the Yamuna.

The day’s event was at a place little downstream of the Okhla barrage (this barrage is the border between Delhi and Noida in Uttar Pradesh) on the Delhi side. This is the riverfront of the Madanpur Khadar village, more famous because it is here Durga idols are brought for immersion. The site offered a pathetic scenario with the wooden skeletal remains of the recent Durga idol immersions. Foaming shallow waters were hemmed in on the bank side by the remains of the Durga Puja rituals. There was some repair works going on at the barrage adding to the noise levels.

Bhola and Babita, the other two core members of the team, were the most happy as, how Bhola put it: “This is my ghat (stepped embankment), this is my area.” Bhola’s family has been living at the Madanpur Khadar village for generations. While his father and rest of his clan went on to do fishing for their life, Bhola shifted to becoming a fishing contractor and employees several people under him.

A pandal on the very ghats was the august venue for the discussion “Imagine there was a river”. Arif Ali, professor at the Jamia Milia Islamia and Rakhshanda Jalil from the Council for Social Development joined the Yamuna Katha members. GIZ’s Regina Dube too joined in on the last day.

Prof Ali recalled the time when the Britishers developed the Okhla riverfront as a picnic spot way back in 1870. Okhla village was then just a small hamlet of 20-odd families: some of them were potters while most of them had buffaloes for livelihood. The river bank saw cultivation of a variety of fruits and vegetables.  

He also lamented the fact that Delhi has just 2 % of the length of Yamuna but contributes to 90 % of the pollution.

Rakhshanda Jalil, who has been working for preservation and spreading awareness about heritage monuments, drew parallel between the monuments and the river. “People either are not aware there is a monument and do not at all visit it; or abuse it. Similarly, we have turned blind towards the river, we have stopped coming here.”

Another Madanpur Khadar resident Ratan Singh, who now is employed by city’s water utility Delhi Jal Board (DJB) informed there was a time up to some 40 years ago, when Yamuna waters would be used directly for cooking purposes even for functions such as marriage. “But see the irony. Today if my hand dips in the water, I have to wash it with soap at least twice otherwise, my hand will itch and have infections.”

The debate ranged from what causes pollution and how can one prevent it to how flow rate of the river can be increased and how to deal with the increasing pressure of the population. Bhola pointed out how the local police, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) and other government departments work in tandem to provide all kinds of facilities and maintain cleanliness at the time of festivals. His simple query: “If they can do this on three occasions in the year, why not for the rest of the year.”   

Reflections

Back at the hotel after lunch was ‘reflections’, time to go over the last four days of journey together. There were confessions about personal discoveries and in general the mood was ‘we need to meet again.’ Environmentalist and Gandhian Anupam Mishra joined in the Yamuna Katha yatris at the time of reflections.

Bhola, who also works as a life guard, proudly promised: “I have been saving humans for so long. Now I will work to save the Yamuna.” Chhotu Khan said it took him quite some time to realize that he too was a member of the team and he felt proud being associated with it. The two teachers, Vidhu Narayanan and Urmi Chakraborty said they would take back the experience to their school and bring their students to the river bank.

Gayatri Chatterjee said Yamuna gave her a realization that she has yet to learn much and suggested the proceedings be in Hindi to take it to larger audience. The Yamuna Katha in-house river expert Dwijender Kalia suggested a Yamuna Parikrama (circumambulation) till Prayag, where the Yamuna meets Ganga. Rashid Khan, the haathi-wala, resolved to join the larger fight.

Anumpam Mishra said in our limited life span, we cannot even think of cleaning the Yamuna. “Instead, we should concentrate on not polluting it,” he said.

With a resolve to meet again and again, everyone dispersed with a promise to self – as Ashish said – to make the Yamuna Katha (a tale of Yamuna) into a Yamuna Mahakavya (an epic for Yamuna). 

Dastangoi: Tales from Tilism-e-Hoshruba

We are happy to invite you to an extraordinary cultural event, which is part of the Yamuna Katha Program:  Dastangoi, a lost and old art form of storytelling, on the ramparts of Purana Qila (or Qila-e-Kuhna in Mughal rulers' parlance) at 7 pm today Friday, October 14, 2011.

The venue for the performance is the spot where the new light and sound show takes place. Please enter Purana Qila from the Zoo entrance, climb the acclivity, go past the main gate till you reach a T-point, and then turn right to the other gate. Keep walking till you reach the other gate. That's the venue for the performance. 

Synopsis of Stories: 

The Bachpan Tale: Amir Hamza and Amar Aiyyaar are young and get admission into a Madrasa (school) where a pot-bellied, foul-tempered, food loving Mullah is their teacher. Amar Aiyyar is a menace in the school from day one. Mullah fed up with Amar's behaviour complaints to Amir Hamza's father, Khwaja Abdul Muttalib, the Chief of Mecca and the Keeper of Kaaba. Khwaja gets Amar thrown out of the school but Hamza is heartbroken and he forces his father to get Amar readmitted into the school. Amar then plots a revenge on the Mullah.

Tha Aazar Jadoo Tale: Amar Aiyyar and four of his disciples Mehtar Qiran, Barq Firangi, Jaansoz, and Zargham Sherdil have entered the Tilism-e-Hoshruba (a magical realm that enchants your senses) to rescue Amir Hamza's grandson. Afrasiyab, the emperor of Hoshruba, is livid with this infiltration and he sends sorcerers (Saahirs) to capture the Aiyyaars (Tricksters) but each time Amar and his disciples slay the Saahir sent for them. Finally, frustrated Afrasiyab dispatches a fearful Saahir named Aazar Jadoo with a magical portrait, which reveals the real face of any trickster in disguise. Amar and few of his disciples are captured as they are unable to fool Aazar with their disguises. He recognizes them with the help of the magical portrait. Now, the rest of the story is how the Aiyyars trick this Saahir too and rescue themselves from his spell. 

Dastak: Dastak is a theatre group which was formed by Mahmood Farooqui with few of his friends in 1990's when he had just returned from Oxford. Currently, Mahmood Farooqui with his group Dastak is working at reviving the lost art form of Urdu storytelling, Dastangoi. The revival has been on for six years now and details could be found at the blog http://dastangoi.blogspot.com The other key members of the group are Anusha Rizvi, the writer-director of the feature Peepli Live, and Danish Husain, Mahmood's fellow Dastangoi and a poet, actor. 

Director: Mahmood Farooqui is a Rhodes Scholar, author of the book 'Besieged: Voices from Delhi 1857,' Co-Director of the feature Peepli Live, and the Director of Dastangoi. He interpreted the art form in its modern form and reinvented it. 

Yamuna at its best state – in Jagatpur village near Delhi

That Yamuna looks like a river – unlike the filthy drain – upstream of Wazirabad was known to many of the Yamuna Katha yatris. But no one – except of course Chhotu Khan and Rashid Khan – was ready for the sight at Jagatpur, a small prosperous village in north Delhi on Thursday morning.

Vast swathe of fertile alluvial soil with taller-than-human weeds, a dusty winding road from the bund road leading to the water front and then … water sans garbage, sans plastic waste, literally free from all kinds of pollution. “I just can’t believe we are in Delhi on the Yamuna bank,” said an excited Arun Raj, who works with Force, an NGO working on water.  

Arun, a passenger with the core group who joined for the day, had read about the history of the river and its connection with the city. “Delhi has remained just as a fragment of the glorious history,” he said.

Jagatpur river front visit became an important fragment for the Yamuna Katha yatris. The group members thrilled to find the company of none other than a female elephant Rupa. Almost everybody spent time in observing the elephant, clicking photographs, asking the mahavat about Rupa’s habit.

Elephant Rupe carrying passengers Claudia and Ellen
(photo: Alex Köcher)

Apart from the major attraction of the beautiful unlike-in-Delhi Yamuna, the riverfront offered other attractions and photo opportunities too. A bunch of fishermen were readying for embarking on a fishing journey up stream of the Yamuna; a tractor and its trolley were brought for washing; minutes later, another tractor-trolley brought a newly painted boat to be deployed in waters and last but not the least – and what a sight it was – a herd of buffaloes gently entering the river and swiftly swimming across to the riverine island.

Local fishermen embarking to bring in fresh fish (photo: Alex: Koecher) 

That was a moment which everyone enjoyed what with the buffaloes actually posing for the shutterbugs and the buffalo owners with bright coloured turbans doling out sound bytes for the camera team. “I had always been disheartened with the state of Yamuna. Never had I imagined, Yamuna bank in Delhi would be so much fun,” said Urmi Chakraborty, a core team member and a geography teacher passionate about rivers.

Buffalos longing for a bath (photo: Alex Koecher)

After more than two hours of fun, the Yamuna Katha team mates moved on to the next stop: the Ramghat, just north of Wazirabad village. The ghat (stepped embankment), is actually a cluster of temples, old and new. A large area is semi-circles with temples on the river side with space for parking vehicles on one side and a number of small kuchcha structures/tea kiosks for selling pooja material and other items lining the other side.

The water front resembled a ghat in any of the rural riverfronts. The ghats, replete with temples, shiv lingas (Lord Shiva’s manifest symbol) jutting right in the middle of the ghat, idle row boats resting by the bank and the omnipresent garbage in the form of flower waste from pooja remains, wooden planks and even refuse by way of some plaster of Paris statues. No, it again did not seem like Delhi. But Delhi it was.

Ramghat (photo: Alex Koecher)

After a round of hot tea from one of the kiosks, team members dispersed to explore the bank on their own. In small huddles, the passengers and the core group members exchanged ideas and keenly debated various issues. But the common thread that was emerging – and was very evident as the time passed by – was that each one of the team was equally concerned about the Yamuna.

Core group members Gayatrie and Rasheed discussing over tea
(photo: Alex Koecher)

A delicious lunch followed by rest as the sun peaked right above in the blue October sky, and the team was ready for the next adventure. Golden Jubilee Park by the riverfront right in front of the historical Red Fort and the Salimgarh Fort was the next destination.

The sprawling park does offer a good site along the Yamuna bank with the Loha Pul (the old iron bridge) in the background completing the picture frame. However, the place had a gory history … in the immediate past. Dwijender Kalia, the in house river expert from the core members’ team reminded: “In 2006, almost a lakh people were thrown out from the slums that occupied this very place then known as Jamuna Pushta. The displaced were thrown away from the main stream yet again as they were offered rehabilitation at Bawana and such far flung places.”

Discussion in the open at Golden Jubilee Park (photo: Alex Koecher)

With this note, started the discussion about ‘Moving a Juggernaut called Delhi’. Manu Bhatnagar, water conservationist and an active academic expert associated with conservation NGO Indian National Trust for Arts and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) initiated and moderated the discussion. The group was joined by GIZ guests and a German elected representative Marie Luise von Halem, member of one of the state parliaments in Germany. The discussion ranged from water pollution, reasons for it, the reduced flow of water in the Yamuna, what does Yamuna offer to a city, what do people identify and understand with the city, the very definition of city, the approach of the planners and policy makers etc.

But one remark from Sadhuram, a rustic farmer tilling land near the Park, garnered the most appreciation. “They have shrunk the river. Upar wale ko nahi, apane aap ko bada maanate hai woh. (They think they are bigger than the Lord Almighty),” the simpleton said in a matter-of-fact tone.

Towards the end, the Yamuna Katha team was joined by an activist working for another river. Atul Jain, a passenger who had joined the team on day one, came calling in on day two too and brought along Anil Madhav Dave, a Member of Parliament (Rajya Sabha) and an activist who runs an NGO called Narmada Samagra, which works in Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat along the Narmada river.  

Dave, also a member Parliamentary Standing Committee on Water Resources, said a human being thinks about the river as if his or her efforts are going to “save” the river. “We think the river as water body and not a living eco-system. The moment we think it as a body, we think of reviving it, saving it et al. But tell me, what can a human with a life span of hardly 70-80 years do for a river which is flowing since ages? The idea is to ‘serve’ the river and not brag about saving it.”

The discussion ended on a note of optimism that each one in his or her capacity should continue its efforts for the river and work towards increasing the tribe.

The last item on the agenda, before returning to the hotel, was looked forward and enjoyed the most by every single member of the team. Kite flying opened up each other and brought in moments of sheer joy for all.         

Living on the Yamuna Bank

Yamuna hardly finds a mention in day-to-day conversations of Delhiites. So for Shubham Mishra, another member of the core team of Yamuna Katha, it was a realization, brought in by the Yamuna itself.

Shubham’s home is near Rajghat, on the Ring road, metres away from Yamuna. Rajghat, more famous for Mahatma Gandhi’s memorial today, was once a prosperous ghat (stepped embankment) of the Yamuna. It was exclusive for the royalty and hence the name Raj ghat.

But like most of the Delhiites of his age, Shubham, a trained urban planner, only knew, yes, Delhi has river. But once in while there is heavy flooding and the banks are submerged. “Then we realize we have a river,” Shubham says as he recalls the days of frenzy that come with the floods.

But slowly, the flood plains were reclaimed and exploited for commercial purpose. And the places are many. Qudasia ghat, the Yamuna Bazar, the Rajghat, power plants near ITO and now, sanitized, landscaped gardens, not to mention the number of bridges and flyways… the metro stations, Akshardham temple … and the list goes on endless.

“If we build on the floodplains, the water will always find its way back,” Shubham points out.

Shubham, who has been constantly visiting the Yamuna banks for the last two months, has discovered a new passion. Toponomy – the branch of lexicology that studies the place names of a region or a language – of the various ghats has intrigued him no end. “Come to think of it, there were different names for each of these ghats. Now, all we have is ghat number 1 to 32 at Yamuna Bazar.”

Losing the names is akin to losing an identity, says Shubham, who loves Yamuna and Delhi equally. “The very fact that the each of the places had a different name, means these places were different. Today, everything looks the same. Each of these ghats had a different purpose to fulfill. It gives us a glimpse of what kind of river front existed then? Qudasia ghat was different and so was the ghat in front of Kotla.”

Today, the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) is planning a sanitized and concretized riverfront, something, which is likely to be built in clichéd sarkari style. But even when such a riverfront comes up, would the Delhiites sit in front of a stinking filthy river that is almost a drain today?

Shubham’s no nonsense reply: “First there has to be a river, there has to be water in it.”

Yamuna: A Paradise Lost

There goes this famous anecdote about Hazrat Nizamuddin, the Sufi saint residing in Delhi in the early 14^th century. When he saw an old lady drawing water from a well even when she lived near Yamuna, he asked her why.

“My husband is very old. We have nothing to eat. Yamuna’s water is very tasty, so tasty that it induces hunger. I don’t want this to happen to us,” the lady replied.

Can anyone say this about Yamuna waters today? Till about 50 years ago, the Yamuna was very much clean, even in Delhi. As the demographic change took place over the years, the late 1980s saw the population explosion and the new millennium saw widespread migration from hinterlands to the national capital, the stress on the Yamuna only increased.

That exactly is what ails the Yamuna today. Shubham does the math: “Earlier, the population was much lesser and scattered. The resources were de-centralized. Delhi had hundreds of lakes, ponds, wells and baolis (step wells). On the one hand, people were dependent on the water bodies in their areas and on the other hand, there was hardly any human waste flowing into the river.”

Today, the situation is exactly reversed. Delhi is entirely dependent on the Yamuna to cater to its drinking water needs. And at the same time, the river is used as a channel for disposal of sewage, creating two-way pressure on the Yamuna.

The Yamuna was never seen in isolation all these centuries. People were always aware of the connection … through surface channels or through underground aquifers. He asks how can anyone forget Neher-i-Bahisht?

There was this all wonderful canal system. In 14^th century, the Tughlaq dynasty built the Neher-i-Bahisht (literally, stream of paradise) parallel to the river. It was later restored during the Mughal rule in the early 17^th century by Ali Mardan Khan, an engineer in the Mughal court. The canal started from Benawas, near the place where Yamuna enters the plains and after running through almost the entire cluster of ancient villages, reached the medieval city of Shahjahanabad only after which it drained into the Yamuna.

The Neher-i-Bahisht was in reality, the stream of paradise. It was an apt description of the phenomenon – of providing the elixir of life to people on its banks, making Delhi the very heaven people crave to get to, turning it into a paradise that brought calm into the Delhi walas life.

But where has this paradise gone? It seems we have lost this paradise and how?

Sums up Shubham: “Do we have any other option but to decentralize and take the pressure off the Yamuna?”

Encounters with the Yamuna way of life

Imagine walking the same path on the Yamuna banks, where eons ago possibly Lord Krishna came to meet the Pandavas* at their Indraprastha city!

It may sound outlandish but for a perennial river Yamuna flowing since time immemorial, this is not much of a time gap: between Lord Krishna’s time and today. Perhaps a walk along the river bank in contemporary Delhi might reveal much more.

Then again, how about visiting an agriculture farm that has been irrigated with Yamuna waters ever since? How about a boat ride across the river which is believed to be not much deep yet unfathomable?

All this and much more is on cards during the Yamuna Katha project, an effort to understand the connection between the ancient river and the modern man. A group of Yamuna travelers will embark on the journey of discovery from the morning of October 12 for the Yamuna experience.

The ‘experience’ comprises variety ranging from a visit to water works unit of city’s water utility, interaction with a community which recently made Yamuna bank its home, discussion about the Delhi-Yamuna paradigm on its very bank at the Golden Jubilee Park (near Salimgarh fort) and watching the age old tradition of wrestling at one of the famous akharas (learning centres for wrestlers). (See itinerary).

With a diverse group, we hope to capture as-yet-undocumented exchange of views. For instance, while discussing the Yamuna riverfront development plan, the modern planner’s view envisaging all ‘poor’ things to vanish for providing entertainment to ‘rich’ may vary from a fisherman’s who can trace his ancestors living on the river bank for centuries together.

The use – rather the abuse – of Yamuna river, and the Yamuna banks too, would be the common thread throughout the foray. The haathi wala (elephant owner) camping his herd on the banks will tell upfront how the Indian government ambitious Yamuna Action Plan (YAP) has failed despite pumping crores of rupees. Aware that most interventions focus on the apathy of Yamuna, always on the receiving end of city’s careless denizens resulting in a drain-like status, the core group along with the passengers joining them daily will endeavor to understand Yamuna’s predicament vis-à-vis efforts by the NGOs, academicians, concerned individuals, activists and above all by those who live with the river.    

In short, the Yamuna Katha is a collective imagination of all Delhi wallas, obviously and not so obviously connected with the river.

(*Pandavas were five siblings, sons of King Pandu from the epic Mahabharata)