Responding to the High Court’s stern directive, the Uttar Pradesh Government formed the River Police two years ago to ensure that people did not pollute the Yamuna River in Agra. Restrictions were imposed on washing cattle in the river. Dhobis were also asked to move a kilometre downstream of the Agra Water Works. But the situation continues to deteriorate, causing distress and alarm among thinking sections of society.

The Yamuna in Agra has been reduced to a virtual nullah with hardly any water left. With the pollution level having crossed the human tolerance level, alarm bells are ringing once again. Whoever heard of the multi crore Yamuna Action Plan project which seems to have gone haywire.

The Gokul Barrage in Mathura has stopped all the waste water that was flowing down the river from the industrial areas of Delhi, Faridabad and Ballabhgarh, on which people in Agra were largely dependent.

The Water Works and the State Pollution Control Board officials have been screaming at the top of their voices, pleading with the government agencies to release more raw water in the Yamuna to bring down the pollution load, but so far there has been no response. The consumption of chlorine and bleaching power has gone up hundred-fold, quite clearly detrimental to the health of the people’s.

Just behind the Taj Mahal, garbage dumps have appeared. The Mantola Nullah, opening into the Yamuna, close to the Taj, brings all the untreated sullage and toxic wastes from slaughter houses, chain industries, electroplating units, etc.

One of the holiest rivers in India, the Yamuna’s degeneration began when Sanjay Gandhi, during the emergency days, got all the ghats and temples along the river bank demolished to create scenic parks and the Chowpati-like river front. Once cultural and religious interests were lost, people stopped coming to the river. Today there are no ghats for the people, no temples, only stretches of badly-maintained parks where pigs and cattle loiter and litter. Agra’s lifeline stands paralysed.