SAVE YAMUNA TO SAVE GANGA

Project of Green Education Foundation by Indian Environmental Society

Publised By:

Indian Environmental Society

SAVE YAMUNA TO SAVE GANGA Project of Green Education Foundation by Indian Environmental Society
Water is the prime determinant of the sustainability of human beings Jalati Jivayati Lokaniti! Water in different forms is considered as Apodevatas in Vedic literature. Since time immemorial water is worshipped in India. It is one of the five elements that contribute the life support system. Everything in human life is, in some way or the other, connected to water. The reduction in availability of this resource in the past has led to the decline of major civilizations in the past. Water is the most abundant single substance in the biosphere being about 1,50,000,000 Kilometer Cube in volume. Our earth is covered with 75% water, of which the oceans and seas hold 97% which is salty. Another 2% is locked up in the Arctic and Antarctic ice caps and snow and thereby unusable. Only 1% is found in rivers, lakes and underground reservoirs and can be used by man. It is widely felt by the people that water is a free gift of nature available in unlimited quantity. It may have seen so in the past, but the current situation is different, it has become a scarce commodity today. Ganga India's national river: Ganga River known as Ganga Maata or Mother Ganges is revered as a goddess whose purity cleanses the sins of the faithful and aids the dead on their path toward heaven. In most Hindu families, a vial of water from the Ganga is kept in every house. It is believed that drinking water from the Ganga with one's last breath will take the soul to heaven. Hindus also believe life is incomplete without bathing in the Ganga at least once in their lifetime. Some of the most important Hindu festivals and religious congregations are celebrated on the banks of the river Ganga such as the Kumbh Mela or the Kumbh Fair and the Chhat Puja. Kumbh Mela is the largest religious gathering on Earth for Hindu peoples, where around 70 million Hindus from around the world participated in the last Kumbh Mela at the Hindu Holy city Prayaga (also known as Allahabad). River Yamuna: Life Line for many----River Yamuna with the total length of around 1,370 Kilometers (851 miles), is the largest tributary of the Ganges River in northern India. Yamuna is considered the most sacred among all the rivers as Hindu mythology. Its source is at Yamunotri, in the Uttarakhand Himalaya, in the Himalayan Mountains. It flows through the states of Delhi, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, before merging Ganges at Allahabad. The cities of Delhi, Mathura and Agra lie on its banks. In India's ancient scriptures and religious texts great sanctity and respect has been expressed for river Yamuna, however today the mighty river has fallen victim to poor governance and civic indifference. It is being used as an oversized 'dust bin', and the civic authorities have found it to be cost-effective to allow untreated city waste water and sewage into the river. Diversion and abstraction of water from the river into canals upstream of Delhi has severely curtailed its flow and self cleansing capacity. The 1

absence of perennial flow in the river Yamuna and the huge quantity of waste it receives have together given it the dubious distinction of being one of the most polluted rivers of the country. Where Yamuna river enters the Ganga : The upper Ganges supplies water to extensive irrigation works. The river passes the holy bathing sites at Haridwar, Allahabad (where the Yamuna river enters the Ganga), and Varanasi. Below Allahabad the Ganges becomes a slow, meandering stream with shifting channels. Because of its location near major population centers, however, the river is highly polluted. The Ganga collects large amounts of human pollutants as it flows through highly populous areas. These populous areas, and other people downstream, are then exposed to these potentially hazardous accumulations. Yamuna whose water is highly polluted joins Ganga at Sangam. Large volume of municipal and industrial waste is dumped in the river at Varanasi, a city with approximately 1.2 million population. The Varuna River, which joins the Ganga in the vicinity of Varanasi, receives waste from many drains. The result has been the gradual killing of one of India's most treasured resources. One stretch of the Yamuna River, the Ganges' main tributary, has been devoid of all aquatic creatures for at least a decade. The entire Yamuna River right from its origin to confluence with the Ganga & its tributaries are subject to human activities, which directly or indirectly affect the water quality.

If the pollution is reduced in Yamuna, the will improve the quality of water in Ganga as the pollution of River Yamuna is added to River Ganga at Allahabad. So if we save Yamuna, this will help in saving the River Ganga.
In regard to the same, Indian Environmental Society has come up with the programme SAVE YAMUNA TO SAVE GANGA. Today most of our towns and cities are unable to cope with the rapid pace of urbanisation. People do not understand that it is their right to clean water to drink, clean air to breathe, proper housing, education and health. We also shun our responsibility of keeping our environment clean. It is an acceptable fact that no government can keep cities clean by mere enforcement of environmental laws. Public cooperation and participation is vital for cleaner and greener cities. To save Ganga, Save Yamuna is a programme to involve students of different schools of Delhi, Varanasi, Patna, Kolkata associated with the GLOBE Program. The Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment (GLOBE) program is a worldwide hands-on, primary and secondary school-based science and education program. GLOBE's vision promotes and supports students, teachers and scientists to collaborate on inquiry-based investigations of the environment and the Earth system. With the help of GLOBE program, students learn how to determine the health of an environmental system. We assume that we can keep dumping pollutants and somehow the environment 2

will take care of them. In this program students have the opportunity to check their water system and can know whether the water system is polluted or healthy. Also they can learn how to make good measurements. The child is the father of man and thus a powerful agent of education. To save Ganga, save Yamuna programme realizes the enormous potential hidden in the students and youth group which is capable of changing the world. The programme aims to mobilize community responsibility for environmental assessment and improvement in all major towns and cities of India. Aim of the project: The intent of project is to establish a framework and local commitment for restoring and enhancing the water quality of river Yamuna and Ganga. This programme aims to involve a large group of teachers and students in the national endeavour for a cleaner and greener environment. Teachers will provide guidance and encouragement to students to work towards this goal. The programme will address to the water quality problems in large part of Delhi and work towards creating a better understanding of water quality. The main objectives of the programme are as follows
To develop awareness about water pollution status among teachers and students and through To highlight the problems caused due to water pollution in River Yamuna and Ganga. To disseminate knowledge to teachers and school children about water quality monitoring To provide teachers with technical expertise and training to help them evaluate the water

them to communities.

analysis.

quality status in their area. To build consciousness and an attitude to save environment from further deterioration and hence laying foundation for a responsible society. To organize intensive sensitising programmes to have a lasting impact on the target group of teachers and students. To develop skills in students to encourage them to study water pollution and take decisions that will help them and the society. Why it is needed?
To ensure the widest possible public involvement and cooperation in the efforts at reducing

river pollution. To increase awareness levels about issues related to water resources, use, conservation, waste management, and induce public action. To induce a change in public attitude & lifestyles related to water use, waste disposal, sanitation. In particular, minimize open defecation, dumping of poly-bags, waste disposal into water bodies, and wasteful use of water. To gain religious acceptance for the adoption of improved wood/electric crematoria. 3

Various activities proposed under this programme:1. With the involvement of GLOBE program, students can take action after assessing water quality of the rivers at different points:- Delhi, Varanasi, Patna, Kolkata. Since the future is in the hands of children, they should be the main targets for architecturing a better society. The Indian Environmental Society, a research based organization, identified the problem of water pollution in Delhi and for a better Delhi, IES has been going with the school children from the last few years. In the case of water crisis in Delhi, we target the school children to aware about it as it was felt that there is lack of awareness on the issues related to water pollution. In the water quality monitoring, if students find the water quality to be poor they can recommend simple steps to improve the water quality. Follow-up action can be undertaken include which stream cleaning spreading awareness to avoid bathing and washing activities near the water springs to ensure the school authorities regularly keep the water tanks cleaned and chlorinated in the schools. So, with the help of GLOBE program involving the students, Water Quality Monitoring of River Yamuna and Awareness Building Programme for Schools to create awareness and leadership role in combating against Water Pollution. In this programme, the Society will involve different GLOBE schools in monitoring the Water Quality of River Yamuna in different cities. With the help of these schools, students will collect vast data on parameters like pH, TDS, Transparency, Temperature etc. to monitor the quality of River Yamuna. Indian Environment Society is under the process to have GLOBE workshop in Varanasi and Patna. So the school can also participate in collecting the data and monitoring the river. The GLOBE schools in Kolkata will also participate in the same. GLOBE Program (Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment), which is an International Hands-on Environmental Science and Learning Programme wherein, the teachers will be provided with the training on GLOBE activities related to Atmosphere, Land Cover, Soil and Water by Master /International Trainers which will include both theoretical and practical (field work) sessions. So, Through the GLOBE Hydrology Investigation, you can help address these questions by monitoring the waters in River Yamuna. The project aims to create awareness among the schoolchildren and through their medium in the community, regarding the decreasing water levels and increasing water pollution - groundwater as well as surface water. All the activities under the project will streamline towards the infusion of consciousness and information in its target groups regarding water conservation and management practices, which will help to decrease water pollution and its scarcity at large.

Dont let our beautiful Geography to change into HISTORY

SAVE YAMUNA TO SAVE GANGA

Indian Environmental Society

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