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. 

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).