HNY 2012 - Please constitute Yamuna River Conservation Authority, YRCA

31 December 2011
YJA/CORRES/12/11


Dr Manmohan Singh,
Hon'ble Prime Minister
Govt of India
Raisina Hill
New Delhi


Sub: HNY 2012 - Please constitute Yamuna River Conservation Authority, YRCA

Respected Sir,

Kindly accept heartiest greetings from the Yamuna Jiye Abhiyaan, YJA on the occasion of the NEW YEAR 2012.

Sir, the sad and deteriorating fate of river Yamuna all along its 1400 km length is hidden from none. This is when large amount of funds most of which is in form of external aid received from JICA, have been expended under the Yamuna Action Plans I, II and now III. Clearly the efforts made by the state have either been ineffective or there is a lack of understanding on the part of the authorities as regards the main ills faced by the holy and life-line river of the cities of Delhi, Mathura, Agra and Allahabad, not to mention large number of other towns and villages lying in the states of UKH, HP, UP, Haryana and Delhi.

Sir, in this context please allow us to draw your kind attention to the formation of a High Powered Committee (HPC) on 24th August 2007 under the Chairmanship of the Lt Governor of Delhi and co-chaired by the CM of Delhi to go into the question of river Yamuna development with a set 'terms of reference' (TOR). This HPC had been constituted under your honour's directions and amongst other things it was meant to "suggest a design for a statutory framework" for the constitution of a River Yamuna Development Authority, YRDA. We understand that the said HPC has since completed its assigned task and its final report has already been submitted to your office.

Sir, in this respect we at YJA have few observations to make and some suggestions to offer.

OBSERVATIONS:

River Yamuna is a special river in ways more than one. It is not only the longest tributary of river Ganga, but it contributes one of the largest basins (rivers Tons, Hindon, Chambal, Sindh, Betwa and Ken) to the river Ganga system. Clearly the fate of river Ganga is inextricably linked with it.


It has a history of floods (the floods in Sep 2010 being the most recent) which have led to the creation of the famous Ganga-Yamuna doab as being one of the most fertile tracts in the land. Clearly the protection of flood plains of these two rivers is of paramount importance for the water and food security of the country.

Above all with the national (Delhi), tourism (Agra) and the religious (Mathura-Vrindavan) capitals of the country standing on the river Yamuna the importance of its restoration cannot be over-emphasised.

SUGGESTION

We at the YJA, thus request and suggest that the recommendations of the said HPC specially the statutory framework as suggested by it may kindly be considered and implemented at the earliest. But before that the said final report of the HPC may please be made public in its entirety at a suitable government site. We suggest the website of the Ministry of Environment and Forests, MOEF may be used for the purpose.

Sir, we hope that such a statutory arrangement (having meaningful public representation on it) shall be pioneering in nature as no other river in the country today enjoys benefit of any such statutory protection measures, which in any case is long over due for the protection and restoration of our river systems.

Sir, we also suggest that let the said Authority be called the 'Yamuna River Conservation Authority' YRCA, and not the earlier named YRDA as our rivers are in urgent need of measures to 'conserve' and 'restore' rather than to 'develop' them.

We hope that your honour would find merit in our submissions as made above.



Warm regards,



Manoj Misra
Convener



 
CC:

Smt. Jayanthi Natarajan, Hon’ble Minister of State (Independent Charge), Ministry of Environment and Forests - For your kind information and necessary action please.

Sri Tejendra Khanna, Hon'ble Lt Governor of Delhi - For your kind information and necessary action please.

Smt. Sheila Dixit, Hon'ble Chief Minister of Delhi – For your kind information and necessary action please.