Yamuna Bachao Andolan throws traffic out-of-gear
21 March 2015 5:38 AM IST
The protesters started from Kosi Kalan, a town in Mathura district, on March 15 to proceed towards the national Capital. Thousands of protesters from all age groups, including farmers and religious leaders, are participating in the march. The protesters are demanding release of water from the Hathini Kund barrage reservoir in Haryana into the ‘dying’ Yamuna.
The marchers allege government apathy towards Yamuna River and the subsequent failure to make the river pollution free. “We want the release of a minimum quantity of water into the Yamuna around the year from the Hathini Kund barrage, some 100 km upstream of New Delhi; and effective checks on drains in Delhi that dump pollutants, effluents and sewer waste into the river, thereby turning it into one huge drain,” said Rakesh Sinha, one of the protesters.
The protesters were raising slogans — Yamuna ji ke waste/ Khali kar do raste (Please clear the roads for the sake of Holy Yamuna). The foot marchers reached the Faridabad border on Thursday morning and blocked the roads heading towards Delhi. Thousands of protesters sat on the road at Sarai Khwaja in Faridabad, adjacent to the Delhi-Faridabad Border. The toll bridge was also closed down by them, leading to massive traffic snarls in Faridabad. Later, in the evening, heavy traffic movement was witnessed at Sarita Vihar, Jasolla, Mehrauli-Badarpur road, By-pass road, Ali Village, Sector-34, 35 and 37 in Faridabad. On Friday afternoon, the march headed towards Delhi and the protesters blocked Mathura road. Traffic congestions were seen at the Ashram, Ring Road and New Friends Colony, as the protesters headed towards Jantar Mantar.
“We have deployed heavy traffic police force to continue easy movement of traffic. The district police have also been deployed to maintain law and order situation during the protest,” said Muktesh Chandra, Special Commissioner of Police (Traffic).
Meanwhile, few activists have said that rupees worth millions have been wasted, providing for the two Yamuna Action Plans, which have not made any discernible change to the river system that sustains life and agriculture, affecting millions of people in the three states of Haryana, Delhi and Uttar Pradesh.
Meanwhile, major traffic snarls were reported in areas of West and South-West Delhi including Janakpuri, Dabri, Uttam Nagar and Dwarka on Friday afternoon. The snarls reportedly originated from Dabri where a heap of garbage inside a subway caused a major fire.
However, no casualties were reported. A large area around the subway was cordoned off for carrying out the fire operation. According to a source, the fire was caused by a leakage in gas pipeline. It took more than two hours for the flow of traffic to get back to normalcy.
The marchers allege government apathy towards Yamuna River and the subsequent failure to make the river pollution free. “We want the release of a minimum quantity of water into the Yamuna around the year from the Hathini Kund barrage, some 100 km upstream of New Delhi; and effective checks on drains in Delhi that dump pollutants, effluents and sewer waste into the river, thereby turning it into one huge drain,” said Rakesh Sinha, one of the protesters.
The protesters were raising slogans — Yamuna ji ke waste/ Khali kar do raste (Please clear the roads for the sake of Holy Yamuna). The foot marchers reached the Faridabad border on Thursday morning and blocked the roads heading towards Delhi. Thousands of protesters sat on the road at Sarai Khwaja in Faridabad, adjacent to the Delhi-Faridabad Border. The toll bridge was also closed down by them, leading to massive traffic snarls in Faridabad. Later, in the evening, heavy traffic movement was witnessed at Sarita Vihar, Jasolla, Mehrauli-Badarpur road, By-pass road, Ali Village, Sector-34, 35 and 37 in Faridabad. On Friday afternoon, the march headed towards Delhi and the protesters blocked Mathura road. Traffic congestions were seen at the Ashram, Ring Road and New Friends Colony, as the protesters headed towards Jantar Mantar.
“We have deployed heavy traffic police force to continue easy movement of traffic. The district police have also been deployed to maintain law and order situation during the protest,” said Muktesh Chandra, Special Commissioner of Police (Traffic).
Meanwhile, few activists have said that rupees worth millions have been wasted, providing for the two Yamuna Action Plans, which have not made any discernible change to the river system that sustains life and agriculture, affecting millions of people in the three states of Haryana, Delhi and Uttar Pradesh.
Meanwhile, major traffic snarls were reported in areas of West and South-West Delhi including Janakpuri, Dabri, Uttam Nagar and Dwarka on Friday afternoon. The snarls reportedly originated from Dabri where a heap of garbage inside a subway caused a major fire.
However, no casualties were reported. A large area around the subway was cordoned off for carrying out the fire operation. According to a source, the fire was caused by a leakage in gas pipeline. It took more than two hours for the flow of traffic to get back to normalcy.
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