YOUTH FOR JUSTICE

Letter to Chief Justice of India requesting to take suo moto cognizance of Farmers killed by Police firing in Maval near Pune, Maharashtra

2011-08-11T22:36:00.000+05:30

11th Aug. 2011

To,
Justice Shri. S H Kapadia,The Hon'ble Chief Justice of India
Chief Justice Of India,
The Supreme Court Of India,
Delhi 110001

Sub.- Request to take suo moto cognizance of Farmers killed by Police firing in Maval near Pune, Maharashtra

Respected Sir

This is to request you to take suo moto cognizance of farmers killed by Police firing in Maval near Pune.

The details of Police firing which clearly shows that Police has violated all laws and guidelines while taking action against protesting farmers. Visuals shown by various national electronic channels clearly show that the police didn't follow protocol and shoot in the air or below the waist, but aimed straight at people's heads instead, killing three.

The details of this incident are available on all major newspapers and news channels.

This is not only a violation of human right and constitutional rights but also an act of crime.

It is a fact that the farmers are struggling to protect their land and livelihood all across country, such act of crime by police if left unpunished will provoke similar atrocities against poor farmers in other places. I hope you will ensure justice is done. I am writing to you to request you to take suo moto cognizance and personal interest in ensuring that these farmers are not denied justice.

sincerely

Kapil Mishra
B-3/61
Yamuna Vihar
New Delhi-110053
Phone 9818066041

Citizen's Silent March for Democracy

2011-06-17T12:01:00.000+05:30

From Rajghat to National Human Rights Commission office, Copernicus Marg on 18 June at 5 pm

Please join in large numbers to register our strong protest against the government’s clampdown on peaceful demonstrators in the wee hours of 5 June. It reminded of the Jallianwala Bagh incident of 13 April 1919 when British troops opened fire on innocent citizens. The difference this time was that instead of bullets the state used batons.... There was no provocation.

Even otherwise the government has been using repression to curb dissent and muzzle the voice of civil societies demanding change and a better system of governance. Demanding a strong Lokpal or retrieval of black money from tax haven countries cannot be provocation in a country that prides of its democratic traditions. But instead of redressing grievances and trying to meet the demands, the government has preferred to run down civil societies using various techniques.

Such attempts include the attempts to malign the messengers of change and not allowing people to protest by imposing Section 144 at vantage points in the city. Let us march silently, holding placards, with our mouths tied in black cloth, from Rajghat to the office of the National Human Rights Commission this 18 June.

Route: Rajghat, Ambedkar Stadium, Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg, Tilak Marg, India Gate, Copernicus Marg.

Time: 5 pm
Civil society leaders including
1.Arif Md Khan (former Union Minister and crushader for justice)
2.Ved Pratap Vaidik (former Editor of Navbharat Times and Editor PTI and Bhasa)
3.Ram Bahadur Rai (architect of anti-emergency movement in 1975 and senior journalist)
4.Jaya Prakash Narayan (former IAS officer and President of Lok Satta Party)
5. K N Govindacharya(Convener,Rashtriya Swabhiman Aandolan)
5. Surendra Srivastava (President Lok Satta Maharashtra unit)
6.Shri Ashok Tandon (Director Makhanlal Chaturvedi Rashtriya Patrakarita Evam Sanchar Vishwavidyalaya)
7. DP Sinha (winner of Sangeet Natak Academy Award)
8. Maloy Krishna Dhar (former Joint Director IB)
9. Udai Sinha (journalist)
10. Raja Bundela (film actor, director and social activist)
11. Sanjay Paswan (former Union Minister)
12. Basavraj Patil (former MP, covenor of Bharat Vikas Sangam)
13. Jagdish Chandra Sharma (former Ambassador, former secretary, ministry of foreign affairs)
14.Om Prakash Gupta ( former ambassador)
15.JS Rajput (former Director NCERT)
16.Amrit Lal (author and crushader against corruption)
17.Jawahar Kaul (Chairman, Pragya Sansthan)
18. Bachchu Kadu (Independent MLA, Amravati,Maharashtra)
19.Vineet Narain (crushader against corruption)
20.Amitabh Sinha (Supreme Court lawyer and social activist)
21.Nirmala Sharma (Gandhian activist)
22.Rakesh Rafiq (founder Yuva Bharat)
23.Arvind
24.Trasparency International
25. PV Rajgopal
26.Shiraj Ansari (Elected member- Amnesty International)

will be leading the movement.

This is a call to all thinkers, artists, athletes, scientists, writers, poets, journalists, teachers, corporate sector heads, actors, activists and other eminent citizens of the country to stand by the side of the hapless, distraught, oppressed and brutally suppressed lot that is looking up to you for moral support in this dark hour of India’s democracy.

Come one! Come all!

PS: Water, adequate first aid tools and vehicles for the aged and the ailing, who cannot walk the distance, will be available on spot

INDIA AGAINST CORRUPTION

2011-04-07T13:38:00.003+05:30

Join Anna Hazare's Fast To Bring the Jan Lokpal Bill

Anna Hazare will commence a fast unto death from April 5 2011 in support of the Jan Lokpal Bill. You can join the fight against corruption! Join Anna, and fast with him for a day, or as long as you can.

Commit your fasting in your city: Click here to see IAC city co-ordinators

Write to Prime Minister:(English)(Hindi)

Our Anti corruption system needs a change

Why is it that no one goes to jail in our country despite indulging in corruption? This is because we have completely rotten anti-corruption laws and anti-corruption agencies that it is almost impossible for the corrupt to be penalized.

Jan Lokpal Bill is the solution

Justice Santosh Hegde (former Supreme Court Judge and present Lokayukta of Karnataka), Prashant Bhushan (Supreme Court Lawyer) and Arvind Kejriwal (activist) have together drafted a strong anti-corruption law called Jan Lokpal Bill which requires that investigations into any case should be completed within a year and the trial should get over in the next one year so that a corrupt person goes to jail within two years of complaint and his ill gotten wealth is confiscated.

Proposed Govt Lokpal Bill is an eyewash

Lokpal Bill has been introduced eight times in Parliament since 1968. All the eight versions have been very weak. Even these weak versions have not been passed so far because Lokpal Bill seeks to investigate politicians. The latest draft of Lokpal Bill prepared by the present UPA government is a complete eyewash. Rather than strengthen anti-corruption systems, it demolishes whatever exists in the name of anti-corruption systems today. It seeks to completely insulate politicians from any kind of action against them.

We have drafted a similar Bill called Jan Lokayukta Bill for the states. Presently 18 states have Lokayukta Acts. However, they are quite ineffective. We want that the existing Lokayukta Acts should be replaced with Jan Lokayukta Bills.

Downloads

Act Mr. Prime Minister

2011-03-25T16:23:00.001+05:30

Shunglu Committee Report and inaction by Manmohan

It’s Common v/s Wealth

The high level committee constituted to probe the loot in the name of commonwealth games 2010 has submitted its second interim report. This committee was formed by the government under huge social and political pressure on the issue of vulgar exploitation of common resources and open loot of common man that the country has witnessed last year.
Commonwealth Games have become symbol of corruption in the country.
The Shunglu Committee formed by government that is termed as High Level Committee but in fact this committee was never provided with any power to probe the large scale corruption that has shocked the nation. The committee did not had power to summon officials and ministers or to ask for files and documents. Further Committee can not even prosecute or register cases against those who are found guilty.
But the scale of corruption was so visible that even without any real power or authority, this committee could easily find that all possible rules and laws are broken in organization of CWG 2010.
This committee had submitted its first report in January on host broadcasting, the report was immediately made public and is available on the website of the committee. Central government then asked the central bureau of investigation (CBI) to file criminal cases against those who were named in the report. Head of National television Doordarshan had to go after this.
But the scenario is different now, Shunglu committee has submitted its second report and clearly names Delhi Chief Minister and Lt. Governor for the financial losses. Prime Minister has asked not to make the report public and all government agencies are now actively working to cover up. This inaction raises very serious concerns.
Prime Minister had promised the nation that within 100 days of CWG 2010, the criminals of this open loot will be punished, the deadline is never met, all culprits of CWG loot are not only out in the public but also enjoying all benefits of the positions using which they exploited the nation. Be it Delhi CM Shiela Dixit or LG Tejinder Khanna, be it organizing committee head Suresh Kalmadi or Central government minister Jaipal Reddy or even DDA officials, all are smiling at the fortunes that they have looted in the name of games.
Only a few babus are arrested by CBI who could never do anything without clear directions from their bosses. Suresh Kalmadi is openly saying that if he is arrested he will name everyone who was involved, he is also telling that he dealt with only 5% of the total money that was looted and major loot was done by Delhi govt and other central government agencies.
A lot of water has flown down river yamuna since October last year, with Shiela still serving as Delhi CM, most evidences must have been destroyed by now.
This interim report by Shunglu committee should be taken seriously and Delhi Government should be sacked.
While nation need a Jan Lokbal bill that can prevent such corruption and loot in the future, CWG2010 looters should not be spared.
Time for Shiela to go.

Yamuna campaign: Marching ascetics reach Taj city

2011-03-24T12:22:00.002+05:30

Agra, March 24 (IANS) The movement for the restoration of the Yamuna river has picked up steam as the marching ascetics and activists campaigning for it have reached the Taj city on way to Delhi.
The Braj Mandal sants and ascetics, who began the yatra from the Sangam in Allahabad March 2, have been mobilising support in the smaller towns and villages on the way. The marchers reached here Wednesday night and will reach Delhi April 15.

Bhanu Pratap Singh, president of the Bharatiya Kisan Union, said all sections of society are supporting the campaign inspired by Ramesh Baba of Barsana. Many NGOs and citizens groups have also extended their support.

The activists have threatened to open all the gates of the Okhla, Wazirabad and other barrages. 'Water should be allowed to flow uninterrupted and should not be held up anywhere, only the overflow or surplus water can be stored,' said Singh.

The marchers cover around 25 km daily and stop at some village for the night. A large number of women too have joined the march.

'People in Agra will give a fitting response and support the cause that has always been dear to them. Not only for the health of the humans but for conservation of monuments that fetch millions of dollars annually, the river needs to be saved,' Braj Mandal Heritage Conservation Society president Surendra Sharma told IANS.

D.K. Joshi, a member of the Supreme Court-appointed monitoring committee, said: 'For too long the government agencies and corrupt officials have played with our natural assets, the streams and the water bodies. Time has come for the people to wake up before it is too late.'

'In the past three decades, close to Rs.5,000 crore have been spent in the Taj Trapezium Zone, and the results are there for everyone to see,' he said.

YOUTH FOR JUSTICE:- Celebrating 5 years of Action

2011-02-26T18:49:00.000+05:30

Initiated by a group of crazy young people from the lawns of Delhi School of Social Work, YFJ is completing 5 years of action on 3rd March 2011.

As a youth group, we rose against the unfair judicial pronouncement favoring the rich and the powerful by mobilizing concerned citizens and making the invisible disquiet a visible one. (The Jessica Lall verdict). Success in the above-mentioned issue furthered our involvement by our opining on the reservation bill for other backward castes in institutions of higher education.

Realizing the importance of accountability, we used the Right to Information Act as a tool to make the government more accountable to its citizens. We were the first youth group of its kind which, in collaboration with organizations like Josh, MKSS, Parivartan to aggressively popularize its concept (especially in University of Delhi where we strove to pull the youth out of its deep slumber and kill the culture of silence).

Under "Farmers and I" initiative, group has organized series of protests against insensitive attitude for authorities on the issue of farmers suicides and also stages a continuous protest at Jantar Mantar. That year government announced substantial loan waiver to farmers across country.

We are the Change:

1. First youth group to organize a protest march on 3rd march 2006 in Delhi University against the court’s verdict in Jessica Lal murder trial, this was the day when “Youth for Justice” born

2. First youth action group to organize a candle light vigil with Delhi University students on Jessica Lal case at Jantar Mantar on evening of 3rd march 2006

3. Organized first protest in Delhi University against proposed reservation in higher education on 6th April 2006, resulted in a minor clash with Police

4. Organized series of protest marches and rallies in Delhi University and at Jantar Mantar against proposed reservation in higher education

5. President of India invited “Youth for Justice” delegation on 21st may 2006 to discuss reservation row

6. Realizing the importance of accountability, we used the right to information as a tool to make the government more accountable t its citizens. “Youth for Justice” was the first youth group of its kind, which worked in collaborations with organizations like Josh, MKSS, Parivartan to aggressively popularize concept of RTI (especially in university of Delhi where we strove to pull the youth out of its deep slumber and kill the culture of silence).

7. First and only youth group of Delhi which recognized the urgency to deal with issue of Farmer Suicides and organized Joint March of youth and Farmers at Jantar Mantar

8. Youth for Justice has launched a sensitization programme “FARMERS AND I” with aim to mobilize urban population for the cause

9. First youth action group to join “Yamuna Satyagraha” under the leadership of Magsaysay Awardee Shri Rajendra Singh ji.

10. volunteers sat on satyagraha and “maun vrata” in Yamuna satyagraha

11. Only youth group which supported struggle of B.Sc. (restructured) programme students of Delhi university against the failure of university system and supported students when they decided to sit on an indefinite hunger strike in front of university gate

12. Detained several times by police while protesting for people’s cause

13. Launched "YOUTH FOR YAMUNA" - A "Y4J" initiative against LOOT and KILLING of yamuna in the name of commonwealth games on 16th sept.2007

14. First Youth Action Group to protest against killings by blue line buses in the capital city, organised a candle light protest at central park , C.P. to pay homage to 96 ppl killed by blue line buses

15. YFJ is the only youth action group in New Delhi that has raised voice against killings of innocent people in Nandigram in West Bengal and one of our action hero Sunil Prabhakar went all the way to Nandigram to take note of grassroot realities there.

16. "Youth for Justice" has carried an independent investigation on issue of deaths of labourers in games village and world came to know about this crime only through exclusive video clips provided by "youth for justice" in its investigation.

17. First group in the city that organized massive protest against loot in the name of Commonwealth Games in the capital city of Delhi since the year 2007 and in 2010 published a book "It's Common v/s Wealth" to make people and policy makers aware of the mega scam.

Our stand
As a welfare state and democracy the Indian constitution guarantees the fundamental right of every citizen to survive and with the entitlement of the dignity that should ensue with it.Making such tall claims it is indeed deplorable that we have a Vidharbh and Kalahandi for a New York alike Delhi.It is time that we dissolve these divides and pave roads to do so.

Lines of battle:- No to Govt. Lokpal -Yes to Jan Lokpal

2011-02-06T16:18:00.002+05:30

Fight against corruption has reached a turning point as a draft Jan Lokpal Bill aiming to curb corruption is ready.
Thousands came out on 30th Jan. 2011 in support of this bill across nation.

for details, please login:-
http://indiaagainstcorruption.org/anticorruptionbill.html

Following are salient features of the Jan Lokpal bill:-

1. There shall be an institution of Lokpal with ten members and headed by a Chairperson.

2. That part of CBI which deals with cases of corruption, shall be merged with Lokpal.

3. CVC and the entire internal vigilance set in various central government departments will be
merged with Lokpal.

4. Lokpal will be completely independent of the Government.

5. Lokpal shall have jurisdiction over bureaucrats, politicians and judges.

6. Lokpal shall have the powers to initiate investigations and prosecution without needing
permission from any other agency.

7. Public grievances are often linked to demands/expectations of bribery. Lokpal shall act as
appellate authority and supervisory body for grievance redressal systems in all central
government departments.

8. Lokpal shall be responsible for providing protection against physical and professional
victimization to whistleblowers.

9. Members and Chairperson in Lokpal shall be selected through a transparent and participatory
process.

10. The functioning of Lokpal shall be completely transparent to avoid it from becoming a hub of
corruption.

11. Any complaint of wrongdoing against an official of Lokpal shall be investigated and acted upon
within a month through a transparent enquiry process.
12. If charges are proved and conviction takes place, loss to the exchequer caused due to his
wrongdoing shall be recovered from all those who are convicted.

KISAN SWARAJ YATRA- Volunteers needed

2010-11-27T13:29:00.000+05:30

KISAN SWARAJ YATRA- VOLUNTEERS NEEDED

Dear friends,

We seek your urgent help in intensifying our effort in Delhi with regard to mobilisation towards the Rajghat event, which is the last event of the Kisan Swaraj Yatra going around the country and reaching Delhi on December 11th morning.

1. We need four kinds of efforts to go in immediately into the Delhi mobilisation:
a. With students in JNU and Delhi colleges - here, the pitch should be about our "anna daatas", the ones who are keeping us alive, dying and in deep distress. About how if we don't rescue them, our food is in jeopardy and how big corporations are going to push for more toxic technologies and how it will come back to us in the end. How pushing out farmers from villages will also have its own implications for our urban centres. How Gandhi dreamt of another India etc. Therefore, both as a moral imperative and in our own enlightened-self-interest, we need to support farmers and their struggle for dignified living in rural India.

b. With villages around Delhi, especially where AID and other groups work: Please urgently go and organise discussions in these villages and mobilise them into the Rajghat event. Some AID volunteers should pitch in some efforts here.

c. With NGOs in Delhi: One of you should pick up a phone and start making calls to hundreds of NGOs that are in Delhi and talk to them about the Kisan Swaraj Yatra and request their solidarity on December 11th. Keep asking for who will join and what their number is. This has to be a full-time effort in the next few days, followed up by an SMS later on around the 10th.

d. With groups in bastis in Delhi: There are some Delhi groups which in turn work with people in the bastis, on health issues, communal harmony, on gender-related issues, on education etc. - We should shortlist 6-7 such organisations and interact with the people that they work with in the bastis urgently. This is very important, I feel - because these are the people who can relate to how they have been pushed out of farming in rural India, looking for opportunities elsewhere like in the bastis of Delhi.

I HOPE EACH ONE OF YOU CAN KINDLY PITCH IN WITH ONE OR THE OTHER STRANDS OF WORK.

2. We need help with logistics, please:

a. At Ambedkar Bhawan, there is help needed in terms of overseeing the cleaning work and before that, employing some labourers for this and ensuring that there are buckets, mugs etc.

b. Ensuring that there is hot water for bath....

c. For pickup at railway stations and taking groups of people in DTC buses to their accommodation location. And bringing them to Rajghat on the 11th, etc.

HOPE THERE WOULD BE SOME VOLUNTEERS FOR THIS. IT WOULD BE IDEAL IF WE CAN START COMMUNICATING SUCH VOLUNTEERS' NAMES AND NUMBERS TO PEOPLE FROM DIFF STATES ALREADY.

May I request those of you who can take on some roles to kindly write back here and let us know?

Thanks.

Contact- Kapil Mishra, youth4justice@gmail.com, 9818066041

Some questions for you Madam Sonia Gandhi

2010-11-10T14:45:00.002+05:30

Some questions for you Madam Sonia Gandhi

In Uncategorized on November 10, 2010 at 2:24 pm

Would you please answer Mam?
1. If Ashok Chavhan is removed because of corruption charges, then what message your party leaders Pranab Mukherjee and Antony were sending last evening when they were travelling with Ashok Chavan in his car while going to meet your party MLAs in Mumbai?
2. If Kalmadi is asked to resign because of loot in Commonwealth Games, then why he has been asked to resign from Congress Party post only and not from CWG organizing comittee?
3. Instead why tenure of Kalmadi as CWG organizing committee Chairman is extended for three months? Will it not give him an opportunity to wipe out evidences?
4. If you actually believe that Adrsh society scam is a serious issues then why only Ashok Chavan is asked to resign when almost all Congress Party leaders of Pradesh Congress Committee are clearly involved and got benefited?
5. Why you and your Govt. is not taking similar action against Sheela Dixit and her ministers who are involved in a equally shameful scam i.e. CWG 2010?
6. Why till date none of your family members have spoken anything against rampant corruption in UPA Govt. that includes 2G, CWG, Adarsh society, Food Grain etc?
7. Why actions against all these individuals like Kalmadi and Ashok Chavans are being taken at Party level only and Government agencies who are actually responsible for actions are not doing anything at all? Do you want to show that Congress Party is bigger than Government and Nation for that matter?
8. Please explain why we should believe that you and your family is not directly involved and benefited from all these scams considering the fact that you are mum and reluctant to take any concrete action whatsoever on any of these issues?

CAMPAIGN AGAINST CWG CORRUPTION

2010-10-25T13:04:00.000+05:30

CAMPAIGN AGAINST CWG CORRUPTION – LETTER TO PRIME MINISTER

Dear Dr Manmohan Singh,

The scale and arrogance of corruption in Commonwealth Games is shocking. Unfortunately, government’s reaction to it is even more shocking. Before the games, you and Mrs Gandhi made strong statements that no one will be spared. But what is going on in the name of enquiries and investigations is hardly encouraging – in fact, it is a mere eyewash!

Before coming to the irrelevance of the Shunglu committee appointed by you recently, let us first look at the state of enquiries which are underway at the moment:

1. Central Vigilance Commission: The CVC is looking into just about 18 contracts or so, as against thousands of contracts and much bigger ones that have not been touched so far.
2. Central Bureau of Investigation: CBI is also believed to be looking only at a handful of contracts relating to Queen’s Baton controversy. With the range of politicians facing allegations, CBI can be least entrusted to do an honest investigation, as it is directly under the government and takes its orders from the same set of politicians.
3. Enforcement Directorate: ED is looking into only foreign exchange related matters like controversies surrounding Queen’s baton etc.
4. Comptroller and Auditor General of India: One is not sure of the ambit of CAG’s enquiries but both CAG and CVC do not have the jurisdiction and powers to peep into the role of politicians.

So, effectively politicians are out of all ongoing enquiries and it is believed that most of the money has finally landed with the politicians.

So, you decided to set up the Shunglu committee. But the prescription seems to be worse than the disease. Shunglu committee neither has powers nor jurisdiction to conduct the most basic enquiries. Forget politicians, it does not even have the powers to call for records from an ordinary clerk. Suppose it calls for records from a particular department and that department refuses to comply. What powers does Shunglu committee have to enforce its directions? Does it have powers to summon officers, politicians or contractors to question them or record their statements? Agencies like CVC and CAG draw their powers under various laws. Yet, they find it so difficult to get their orders implemented from obdurate and corrupt government machinery. CVC has repeatedly said that the government departments do not respond to its queries. How would Shunglu committee get its orders implemented? It would be foolhardy to believe that the bureaucracy would oblige just because Shunglu has been appointed by the Prime Minister.

Who will bell the cat?

Money made in Commonwealth Games is believed to have allegedly travelled right upto the powers-that-be. Neither CVC nor CAG nor even Shunglu committee have either the mandate or the powers to question Sheila Dikshit or Kalmadi or any other politician or to raid them. The money is alleged to have travelled even beyond. All these agencies will merely be concentrating on tenders and papers and questioning middle level officers who were merely conduits and doing the bidding of their political masters.

In any investigation, time is of essence. Else precious evidence is lost. By the time Shunglu committee submits its report, most evidence would have been wiped out.

We do not understand what is the need for Shunglu committee? When there are already prima facie discrepancies in so many contracts, why can’t the government straight away register cases under Prevention of Corruption Act and Indian Penal Code rather than setting up more committees?

Massive corruption in Commonwealth Games and 2G spectrum has raised the issue of corruption to a pitch as it never happened before. The government is under pressure. That is the reason it is trying to silence media through the appointment of Shunglu committee.

However, rather be fooled by these steps, it is time to call spade a spade.

Not a single effective anti-corruption agency in our country:

A look at all anti-corruption laws and agencies indicate that there is not a single effective anti-corrupion agency in our country. The present anti-corruption laws and systems in our country suffer from internal contradictions. There are plethora of anti-corruption agencies. In each of these agencies, the government has deliberately left some critical loophole so as to make it ineffective. For instance, CVC is an independent body but does not have powers to take any action. It is merely an advisory body. Plus, it does not have jurisdiction over politicians. CBI has the powers but is not independent. It is directly controlled by the government. Also, CBI needs government’s permission to initiate investigations and to launch prosecution in any case. So, one agency has the powers but is not independent. The other agency is independent but does not have the powers.

Lokpal Bill to come up, is also impotent:

Government has announced setting up of yet another agency called Lokpal by December. Again, the government is doing lip service. According to government’s proposal, Lokpal would have jurisdiction over politicians but not bureaucrats, as if politicians and bureaucrats indulge in corruption separately. So, almost every case will need to be investigated by both CVC and Lokpal – CVC will look into the role of bureaucrats and Lokpal will look into the role of politicians. Doesn’t it sound absurd? The obvious question is why can’t the same agency investigate both? And the most interesting part is that even the Lokpal is being made an advisory body! It would merely recommend to the government to initiate prosecution against, say some of its ministers. Do you think the government would ever do that?

We therefore, demand the following action from the government immediately:

Take immediate steps to protect the evidence:

1. Suresh Kalmadi and his team of officers should be immediately suspended. We are sure that they would have already tampered with most of the evidence. But before they do any further damage, they should be suspended. The first thing that any investigating agency would do is to prevent all accused access to critical evidence. Rather than doing that, Kalmadi and his team have been asked to continue for the next three months. This is likely to give them sufficient time to wipe out all evidence!
2. Delhi Government is believed to have handled around Rs 19,000 crores against Rs 2000 crores handled by Kalmadi. Some central government ministries including urban development ministry, sports ministry etc are believed to have dealt with roughly Rs 8000 crores. According to preliminary enquiries done by CVC and CAG, each of the contract enquired into suffers from serious deficiencies of either straight defalcation or time over runs or highly inflated estimates or shoddy work. Corruption of this scale could not have taken place without active collusion of the people at all levels right from top to bottom. Therefore, to begin with, the ministers of all these ministries in Delhi Government and central government, which dealt with commonwealth games money and are suspect, should be immediately asked to step down. Key officials in these ministries should be suspended. Else they would wipe out all evidence.
3. Let all these people join back if they come clean after enquiries.
4. Let the government immediately seize all the relevant records, before they are further tampered.

Create effective machinery to do honest and effective investigations and hand over these cases to them:

1. A meeting of eminent people took place in August 2010. It was attended by some very senior people who have been connected with administering anti-corruption systems in our country like Justice Santosh Hegde (Lokayukta of Karnataka), Mr P Shankar (former CVC), Mr Pratyush Sinha (former CVC) and Mr J M Lyngdoh (former Chief Election Commissioner). The meeting discussed the deficiencies in our present anti-corruption set up and what needs to be done. They all concurred that all the anti-corruption agencies should be merged into one agency, say Lokpal, which should have the following ingredients:
1. It should be completely independent of the government.
2. It should have jurisdiction over both politicians and bureaucrats.
3. It should have the power to initiate investigations and prosecution in any case without needing any approvals or permissions.
4. The appointments to Lokpal should be transparent and participatory.
5. The functioning of Lokpal should be completely transparent and accountable to prevent it from becoming a hub of corruption itself.

Though a copy of the minutes of this meeting has already been sent to you earlier, we are again attaching the minutes for your ready perusal.

We demand that a Lokpal on the suggested lines should be immediately set up through an ordinance and the investigations into Commonwealth Games and 2G spectrum should be handed over to them as their first cases. Unless investigations were done by such an independent and empowered body, all efforts of the government would be suspect.

Corruption in Commonwealth Games is the last straw. If this also goes unpunished, then there is no hope for this country. Therefore, if the government does not take concrete action as suggested above within a week, we shall be left with no option but to take all possible steps within our command to initiate a nationwide agitation against corruption.

Warm regards

Yours sincerely

Minutes of Meeting

The following met at IIC on 10th August 2010 from 2 pm to 6 pm to discuss the deficiencies in present anti-corruption systems in our country and what steps need to be taken to address these deficiencies.

1. Justice Santosh Hegde, Karnataka Lokayukta
2. Mr J M Lyngdoh, former Chief Election Commissioner
3. Mr P Shankar, former Central Vigilance Commissioner
4. Prashant Bhushan, Advocate, Supreme Court
5. Mr Kamal Jaswal, Director Common Cause
6. Mr Shekhar Singh, Eminent social activist
7. Mr Nikhil Dey, Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangthan
8. Mr Arvind Kejriwal, Social activist
9. Mr Sarvesh Sharma, Common Cause
10. Mr Suhas Borkar, social activist and media personality

Mr Pratyush Sinha, present Central Vigilance Commissioner, attended the meeting for sometime, more as an observer.

Deficiencies in the present anti-corruption systems

Central Government level:

At central Government level, we have Central Vigilance Commission, Departmental vigilance and CBI. CVC and Departmental vigilance deal with vigilance (disciplinary proceedings) aspect of a corruption case and CBI deals with criminal aspect of that case.

Central Vigilance Commission: CVC is the apex body for all vigilance cases in Government of India.

* However, it does not have adequate resources commensurate with the large number of complaints that it receives. CVC is a very small set up with a staff strength less than 200. It is supposed to check corruption in more than 1500 central government departments and ministries, some of them being as big as Central Excise, Railways, Income Tax etc. Therefore, it has to depend on the vigilance wings of respective departments and forwards most of the complaints for inquiry and report to them. While it monitors the progress of these complaints, there is delay and the complainants are often disturbed by this. It directly enquires into a few complaints on its own, especially when it suspects motivated delays or where senior officials could be implicated. But given the constraintf of manpower such number is really small.
* CVC is merely an advisory body. Central Government Departments seek CVC’s advice on various corruption cases. However, they are free to accept or reject CVC’s advice. Even in those cases, which are directly enquired into by the CVC, it can only advise government. CVC mentions these cases of non-acceptance in its monthly reports and the Annual Report to Parliament. But these are not much in focus in Parliamentary debates or by the media.
* CVC cannot direct CBI to initiate enquiries against any officer of the level of Joint Secretary and above on its own. The CBI has to seek the permission of that department, which obviously would not be granted if the senior officers of that department are involved and they could delay the case or see to it that permission would not be granted.
* CVC does not have powers to register criminal case. It deals only with vigilance or disciplinary matters.
* It does not have powers over politicians. If there is an involvement of a politician in any case, CVC could at best bring it to the notice of the Government. There are several cases of serious corruption in which officials and political executive are involved together.
* It does not have any direct powers over departmental vigilance wings. Often it is seen that CVC forwards a complaint to a department and then keeps sending reminders to them to enquire and send report. Many a times, the departments just do not comply. CVC does not have any really effective powers over them to seek compliance of its orders.
* CVC does not have administrative control over officials in vigilance wings of various central government departments to which it forwards corruption complaints. Though the government does consult CVC before appointing the Chief Vigilance Officers of various departments, however, the final decision lies with the government. Also, the officials below CVO are appointed/transferred by that department only. Only in exceptional cases , if the CVO chooses to bring it to the notice of CVC, CVC could bring pressure on the Department to revoke orders but again such recommendations are not binding.
* Appointments to CVC are directly under the control of ruling political party , though the leader of the Opposition is a member of the Committee to select CVC and VCs. But the Committee only considers names put up before it and that is decided by the Government. The appointments are opaque.
* CVC Act gives supervisory powers to CVC over CBI. However, these supervisory powers have remained ineffective. CVC does not have the power to call for any file from CBI or to direct them to do any case in a particular manner. Besides, CBI is under administrative control of DOPT rather than CVC.
* Therefore, though CVC is relatively independent in its functioning, it neither has resources nor powers to enquire and take action on complaints of corruption in a manner that meets the expectations of people.

Departmental Vigilance Wings: Each Department has a vigilance wing, which is manned by officials from the same department (barring a few which have an outsider as Chief Vigilance Officer. However, all the officers under him belong to the same department).

* Since the officers in the vigilance wing of a department are from the same department and they can be posted to any position in that department anytime, it is practically impossible for them to be independent and objective while inquiring into complaints against their colleagues and seniors. If a complaint is received against a senior officer, it is impossible to enquire into that complaint because an officer who is in vigilance today might get posted under that senior officer some time in future.
* In some departments, especially in the Ministries , some officials double up as vigilance officials. It means that an existing official is given additional duty of vigilance also. So, if some citizen complaints against that officer, the complaint is expected to be enquired into by the same officer. Even if someone complaints against that officer to the CVC or to the Head of that Department or to any other authority, the complaint is forwarded by all these agencies and it finally lands up in his own lap to enquire against himself. Even if he recuses himself from such inquiries , still they have to be handled by those who otherwise report to him. There are indeed examples of such absurdity.
* There have been instances of the officials posted in vigilance wing by that department having had a very corrupt past. While in vigilance, they try to scuttle all cases against themselves. They also turn vigilance wing into a hub of corruption, where cases are closed for consideration.
* Departmental vigilance does not investigate into criminal aspect of any case. It does not have the powers to register an FIR.
* They also do not have any powers against politicians.
* Since the vigilance wing is directly under the control of the Head of that Department, it is practically impossible for them to enquire against senior officials of that department.
* Therefore, , the vigilance wing of any department is seen to softpedal on genuine complaints or used to enquire against ” inconvenient” officers.

CBI: CBI has powers of a police station to investigate and register FIR. It can investigate any case related to a Central Government department on its own or any case referred to it by any state government or any court.

* CBI is overburdened and does not accept cases even where amount of defalcation is alleged to be around Rs 1 crore.
* CBI is directly under the administrative control of Central Government.
* So, if a complaint pertains to any minister or politician who is part of a ruling coalition or a bureaucrat who is close to them, CBI’s credibility has suffered and there is increasing public perception that it cannot do a fair investigation and that it is influenced to to scuttle these cases.
* Again, because CBI is directly under the control of Central Government, CBI is perceived to have been often used to settle scores against inconvenient politicians.

Therefore, if a citizen wants to make a complaint about corruption by a politician or an official in the Central Government, there isn’t a single anti-corruption agency which is effective and independent of the government, whose wrongdoings are sought to be investigated. CBI has powers but it is not independent. CVC is independent but it does not have sufficient powers or resources.

At State level:

The position if anything is worse in the States. All vigilance agencies (like state vigilance department, departmental vigilance wings) and anti-corruption agencies (like anti-corruption department of state police, CID etc) are directly under the control of state government and therefore, ineffective in fairly investigating corruption cases against their political bosses. In some states, we have the institution of Lokayuktas.

Lokayuktas:

* Lokayuktas cannot initiate investigations on their own. They have to seek permission of state government to investigate cases involving officials above certain levels.
* In some states, vigilance department has been given powers over bureaucrats and Lokayuktas have been given powers only over politicians. Such division of jurisdiction hampers investigations. So, in a case involving both politician and bureaucrats (which is the case most of the times), both Lokayukta and the vigilance department feel handicapped.
* Lokayuktas merely have advisory roles. They do not have the powers to directly initiate prosecution. They make recommendations to the government, which may or may not agree with those recommendations.
* They also do not have adequate resources to investigate the large number of complaints that they receive.
* Lokayukta is appointed by the state government in an non-transparent and arbitrary manner. In some states, their independence has been seriously eroded.

Therefore, there isn’t any effective anti-corruption agency either at the centre or at state level, which is independent of political executive and which has the powers and resources to entertain and investigate any complaint of corruption and then prosecute the guilty people.

Recommendations:

1.
1. Central Government should immediately pass a strong and effective Lokpal Bill on the following lines. Those states, which already have Lokayukta Acts, should amend their Lokayukta Acts on the following lines. Those states, which do not have Lokayukta Acts, should pass Lokayukta Acts on the following lines.
2. Lokpal at the Centre and Lokayukta at state level should be made the single apex, independent and effective anti-corruption agency.
3. Lokpal/Lokayukta should be a multi-member body. It could have members from judiciary, legal backgrounds, administrative backgrounds, social activists etc. The Chairman of Lokayukta/Lokpal need not be a person from judiciary only.
4. All vigilance agencies should be brought directly under their control. In states, state vigilance departments and departmental vigilance wings should be merged with Lokayukta. This was done in Karnataka. State vigilance department was merged in Lokayukta when Karnatak Lokayukta was created in 1984.
5. At Centre, CVC should be placed under the superintendence of the Lokpal. All departmental vigilance wings should be placed directly and completely (including administrative control) under the control of CVC. These departmental vigilance wings would continue working from the offices and places from where they are working presently. However, CVC would ensure that the officials get rotated between different departments, so that an official does not enquire against officers of his own parent department. CVC would then be able to seek compliance of its directions from these departmental vigilance wings. There would hence, be no need to create new posts or incur any extra expenditure.
6. At state level, the anti-corruption departments of state police and that portion of CID which deals with corruption cases, should be completely (both administratively and functionally) transferred to Lokayukta. Likewise at Central level, that part of CBI, which deals with corruption cases, should be completely (both administratively and functionally) transferred to Lokpal.
7. Lokayukta and Lokpal would have jurisdiction over both politicians and bureaucrats. The vigilance wing under Lokayukta and CVC under Lokpal would deal with vigilance aspect of any case. The anti-corruption wing under Lokayukta or that portion of CBI which has been transferred to Lokpal, would deal with criminal aspect of any corruption case. Offices of Lokpal/Lokayukta would be declared as police stations to enable them to register cases.
8. Lokayukta/Lokpal should have complete autonomy:
* This should include financial autonomy. Their fund requirements should be charged to the Consolidated Fund of India in case of Lokpal and to the Consolidated Fund of respective state in the case of Lokayukta.
* They should have complete autonomy to select their own staff, even if it needs to be employed from outside.
9. Once enquiry (in vigilance cases) or investigations (in criminal cases) are over in any case, the same shall be presented before the entire Lokayukta/Lokpal. After hearing the matter and after hearing the complainant and the accused, the Lokayukta/Lokpal may decide to either impose penalty (in vigilance cases) or proceed with prosecution (in criminal cases) or drop the case on lack of merits or direct further investigations/enquiry. Lokayukta shall not need to seek any sanction for prosecution from anyone. Wherever it is needed, it shall be deemed to have been granted, once it has been granted by Lokayukta/Lokpal.
10. Advice of Lokpal/Lokayukta shall be binding on the government on vigilance matters. In criminal cases, Lokayukta/Lokpal will directly initiate prosecution.
11. For legal purposes, Lokpal/Lokayukta would need to be declared as police officers under section 36 of the Cr.P.C.
12. All records related to a case shall be public after enquiry/investigation is complete.
13. All complaints filed in Lokpal/Lokayukta will have to be compulsorily enquired/investigated, preferably in a time bound manner.
14. Lokpal/Lokayukta should have the following powers:
* They should have the powers of a civil court to summon any officers and documents.
* They should also have the powers of search and seizure.
* They should also have the powers to ensure compliance of their orders. This could include financial penalties also.
* If corruption is going on in some case while investigations are on, Lokayukta/Lokpal shall have the powers to issue interim orders to stop or alter any government activity to ensure that corruption is stopped forthwith. Their orders shall be binding.
15. Lokpal should be selected in the following manner:
* A search and screening committee consisting of the following members should be made. This committee could be formed through either of the following two methods:
1. The committee could consist of five members. One member could be suggested by collegium of the five seniormost Chief Justices of all High Courts. One member could be suggested by five seniormost Lokayuktas. One member could be suggested by a committee of Leaders of Opposition and Chairpersons of the two Houses of Parliament. Likewise, we can think of some more collegiums to select two more members. After a few years, one member could be suggested by a group of all predecessors of Lokpal.

ORThe Committee could consist of fifteen members which are heads of certain institutions and individuals holding certain positions who shall be treated as ex-officio members of this committee like Directors of say two IITs, Directors of two IIMs, Editors of two national Dailies, President of Supreme Court Bar Association, Presidents of some professional bodies etc.

1.
1.
* Appropriate criteria shall be made for screening and shortlisting candidates.
* The candidates would be subjected to public hearings on the lines of confirmation hearings in US, though these hearings will be for selection and not confirmation.
* On the basis of the above procedures, the Screening Committee shall recommend two times the names as there are vacancies to the Selection Committee, which will consist of Prime Minister, Leader of Opposition and Chief Justice of India.
* The Selection Committee will recommend such number of names as there are vacancies to the President for final appointment.
2. Lokayukta of a state shall also be selected similarly.
3. Whistleblower protection: Ordinarily, it shall be the duty of the police to take adequate steps to provide protection to those who complain of threats due to their blowing whistle against corruption. However, if someone is dissatisfied with the steps taken by police, then Lokayukta/Lokpal would be empowered to issue appropriate directions to the police. Lokayukta should have adequate powers to get their orders implemented from police. It was felt that in most of these cases, the identity of the whistleblower is ordinarily known. Therefore, the best deterrent against threats to whistleblowers would be, if the issues raised by them are thoroughly investigated and put on fast track so that a message goes to the corrupt that if they threaten anyone, their cases would become high priority for Lokayukta/Lokpal.
4. It would be desirable if the Government of India provides for the institution of Lokayukta and Lokpal through an amendment to the constitution on the above lines.

To support, Please send your name, address and contact number to youth4justice@gmail.com or call kapil mishra at 9818066041

YFJ Letter to Chief Justice of India

2010-09-04T13:04:00.000+05:30

4th Sept. 2010

To

Hon'ble Mr. Justice S.H. Kapadia

Chief Justice of India

Supreme Court of India

New Delhi

Sub.- Request to take notice of unconstitutional plan by Delhi Traffic Police to impose Section 144 during CWG 2010

Dear Mr. Chief Justice

I am writing this to draw your kind attention this proposal of Delhi Traffic Police. Imposing Section 144 CrPC is unreasonable, unjustified and a disproportionate use of a provision that has been provided in the criminal justice system to deal with emergency/urgent situations like riots and arson.

Some recent media report indicates that in order to prevent the general commuters from infringing the dedicated lanes, Delhi Traffic Police is preparing to impose Section 144 Criminal Procedure Code, 1973 (CrPC) on the demarcated areas for the duration of the Commonwealth Games (CWG 2010). This according to them is to ensure uninterrupted movement of the officials and athletes during the Games. Another news report subsequently makes no mention of Sec 144 CrPC.

Action under this section is anticipatory, imposed generally in cases of emergency and meant to be used sparingly. Orders under this section are justifiable only when it is likely to create annoyance, injury or risk of injury to human life or safety, obstructions, or disturbance of the public tranquility, imperiling public safety and health. During the CWG 2010, the athletes and officials will be transported from the games village to the respective games venues in specially designated vehicles The commuters of Delhi going about their daily lives pose no risk or danger to their life and health.

Declaring a certain portion of the road as “disturbed” under Section 144 of CrPC in this situation is blatantly absurd. The nature of the punishment of seizure of vehicle is not commensurate with the nature of the supposed crime.

Preservation of the public peace and tranquility is the primary function of the government, and the law is not to be resorted to, when there are gaps in implementing policy. Penalizing common citizens in their zest to provide special arrangements for the participants and officials of the ensuing CWG is certainly not the way to do it.

We request you to please take urgent note of the situation and ask Delhi Traffic Police to immediately take back this order which is against basic principal of equality mentioned in our constitution.

Sincerely

Book Release coverage:

2010-08-10T23:41:00.000+05:30

Today's Paper » NATIONAL » NEW DELHI

NEW DELHI, August 7, 2010

Development model promoted in the name of Games flayed

Staff Reporter

Share · print · T+

A book titled “It's Common V/S Wealth” exposing the “myths and realities” of the Commonwealth Games was released at Gandhi Peace Foundation here on Friday.

The book penned by Kapil Mishra, an activist and social entrepreneur, details the development model promoted in the name of the Games, raises questions on accountability and transparency, and assesses the Games in context of democratic values and principles. The book also poses questions for the Delhi Government and Organising Committee.

Those who spoke at the occasion include BJP national general secretary Vijay Goel, veteran journalist Kuldip Nayar, Magsaysay Award winner Rajendra Singh and Ram Karan Solanki, Pradhan of 307 Khap, Palam village.

‘Take responsibility'

Mr. Goel demanded that Sheila Dikshit and Suresh Kalmadi step down from their respective positions, taking responsibility for the ills plaguing the Games works.

He said the budget for the Games has overshot the outlay that the then BJP Government at the Centre had in mind when it bid for the Commonwealth Games.

Rajendra Singh and Kuldeep Nayar said the Games were imposed on the people without taking them into confidence. Mr. Nayar said that corruption was just one aspect of the Games-related issues. He noted that issues like loot of resources and the leaving out of Delhi residents from the Games preparation have not been discussed enough.

Mr. Singh warned that the development model used to push through various infrastructure projects for the Games will now be replicated across the rest of the country.

Book Release

2010-08-05T16:46:00.002+05:30

Book Release
It's Common V/S Wealth
Exposing Commonwealth Games 2010

Releasing on
6th Aug. 2010 at 2:30 pm
Gandhi Peace Foundation, Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Marg
New Delhi

Chief Guest:
Shri Mani Shankar Aiyar, MP, Rajyasabha

Key dignitaries:
Shri Kuldeep Nayar, Senior Journalist
Shri Rajendra Singh Megsasay Awardee
Shri Arvind Kejriwal, Megsaysay Awardee
Shri Prashant Bhushan, Senior Advocate

Shri Vijay Goel, Ex-Union Minister

Sokhender Tomar- Arjun Awardee, CWG Gold Medalist 2002

representatives from various civil society groups will be present

Why this book?
Because it’s Time to talk about the real side of CWG-2010
They are cutting trees, they are displacing people, snatching livelihoods, destroying river, looting the taxpayers, violating all possible labor laws, increasing cost of living to unimaginable heights, asking students to vacate hostels, destroying heritage of this age old city and all this in the name of Green Games.
Yes as a matter of fact the only thing green about upcoming Commonwealth Games in the city is “the money” involved in it.
This book reveals Myths and Realities of Commonwealth Games, Exposes scandalous development model that is being promoted in the name of Games, raises questions on accountability and transparency, assesses the Games in context of democratic values and principles, asks questions and demands Justice. Book makes it clear that one can still love this city and love this nation and hate the loot in the name of commonwealth games. Commonwealth games are in no way a matter of national pride.About the author- Kapil Mishra is an activist and social entrepreneur. For last three years, He is spreading voice against the anti people development approach that is being practiced by authorities in the name of Commonwealth Games in the city. He has raised the voice inside Delhi Assembly against exploitation of Yamuna in the the name of Commonwealth Games and got detained for the action. He has initiated and participated in several protests against exploitation of common people and common resources in the name of “Growth and Development”. He has also prepared a report as Citizen Journalist for CNN-IBN on encroachment on river Yamuna and also has exposed the issues of violation of labor laws at Games sites by camping outside Games village along with other members of “Youth for Justice”
A Masters in Social Work from Delhi School of Social Work, Kapil is presently doing M.B.A. (P.T.) from Faculty of Management Studies (FMS) University of Delhi. Currently he is working with Greenpeace India as Policy Officer.

From:- Youth For Justice

for further details, please contact us at - 9818066041, 9818898982, 9990200243

www.y4j.blogspot.com

youth4justice@gmail.com

You are invited

2010-07-29T22:15:00.000+05:30

"It's Common V/S Wealth"

Exposing Commonwealth Games 2010

Releasing on

6th Aug. 2010

at 2:00 pm

Gandhi Peace Foundation
Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Marg
New Delhi

You are invited

Why this book?

Because it’s Time to talk about the real side of CWG-2010

They are killing animals, they are cutting trees, they are displacing people, snatching livelihoods, destroying river, looting the taxpayers, violating all possible labor laws, increasing cost of living to unimaginable heights, asking students to vacate hostels, destroying heritage of this age old city and all this in the name of Green Games.

Yes as a matter of fact the only thing green about upcoming Commonwealth Games in the city is “the money” involved in it.

Book reveals Myths and Realities of Commonwealth Games, Exposes scandalous development model that is being promoted in the name of Games, raises questions on accountability and transparency and demands Justice.

Please join us and spread it to all.

It's Common V/S Wealth

2010-07-25T12:50:00.002+05:30

It's Common v/s Wealth by Kapil Mishra

It's Common V/S Wealth

2010-07-24T01:38:00.001+05:30

Why this book?

Because it’s Time to talk about the bloody side of CWG-2010

They are killing animals, they are cutting trees, they are displacing people, snatching livelihoods, destroying river, looting the taxpayers, violating all possible labor laws, increasing cost of living to unimaginable heights, asking students to vacate hostels, destroying heritage of this age old city and all this in the name of Green Games.

Yes as a matter of fact the only thing green about upcoming Commonwealth Games in the city is “the money” involved in it.

Dear Friends

As you know, "Youth for Justice" is raising its voice against exploitation of Common People and Common Resources in the name of Games.
This book is in continuation of the battle we are fighting..

Exclusive E-edition is available here:
It's Common v/s Wealth

Available Ebook reading formats:
This book is free.

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Palm Doc (PDB) (for Palm reading devices)	Download
Plain Text (download) (flexible, but lacks much formatting)	Download
Plain Text (view) (viewable as web page)	View

The Reality of Green Games

2010-05-17T13:30:00.002+05:30

Green Games

View more presentations from Kapil Mishra.

Letter to LG Protesting MCD Plans to Kill/Remove City Animals and seeking your urgent intervention

2010-05-12T11:48:00.002+05:30

12th May 2010

To

Shri Tejendra Khanna

Hon’ble Lt. Governor of Delhi

Raj Niwas

Delhi-110054.

Respected Sir,

Sub.- Protesting MCD Plans to Kill/Remove City Animals and seeking your urgent intervention

Greetings from “Youth for Justice”

This is to bring to your notice that in the wake of upcoming Commonwealth Games in the city, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) is planning that stray dogs to be rounded-up across the city before Commonwealth Games and taken elsewhere. There are talks of removing stray dogs from their natural surroundings before the Games.

Municipal body capture stray dogs in the cruelest manner causing serious injuries to them in the process and either kill them or release them on the outskirts in the city. These dogs eventually die horrible deaths as they do not know how to fend for themselves in unfamiliar surroundings. This action is in gross violation of the Animal Birth Control (ABC) rules which only allows stray dogs to be removed for sterilisation, vaccination. Under ABC rules, the dogs should be returned where they were picked up from.

There is also news of barbaric and dastardly killing of 11 dogs in the Jal Sadan vicinity in Lajpat Nagar area.

We should take into account the rights of animals. We should not try to change the face of the city for an event that is taking place for only two weeks. The Constitution of India gives us the right to show compassion to animals.

We demand effective action against illegal slaughtering houses where animals are killed cruelly, strict implementation of livestock transport rules and prevention of atrocities on street animals.

We request you to order immediate probe into the Lajpat Nagar incident and also to ask MCD Commissioner to sop any further plans of killing/removing these animals in the name of Games.

Looking forward to your immediate response

Thanks

Yours Sincerely

All Members of Youth for Justice

And all concerned citizen of the city

C.C. TO

1. Mayor, MCD, Delhi

2. Commissioner, MCD, Delhi

1000 Days of Yamuna Satyagraha - Saluting the spirit of People's Movement

2010-05-01T08:54:00.000+05:30

YOUTH FOR JUSTICE

is proud to announce that

YAMUNA SATYAGRAHA

has completed

1000 days

of its existence.

Started as People's initiative against encroachment on riverbed in the name of Games.

Chronology of YAMUNA SATYAGRAHA by YOUTH FOR JUSTICE

2 Aug to 15th August 2007
Youth for Justice, farmers of Yamuna khaddar and Sunil Parbhakar joins Yamuna Satyagraha. The farmers admirably took responsibility to maintain the Satyagraha sthal. Youth for Justice provided the much needed youth energy for the movement.
Press conferences, folk songs, inviting people/NGOs/polticians from Delhi and outside to sit on satyagraha. Foreign media too troops in. On 15th august, we staged a march to the stream of Yamuna to hoist tri-colour. Yamuna was in good flow but devoid of its flood plains. Unable to meander like a river and recharge the flood plain aquifers.

18th Aug- "YOUTH FOR YAMUNA" WAS LAUNCHED WITH STUDENTS FROM DELHI SCHOOL OF SOCIALWORK
19 August,

SATYAGRAHA IN WELL
Satyagrahis barricaded inside the games village site, pressured to move out. In protest, Sunil Parbhakar(25 years) get down in an abandoned dry well and resumes his satyagraha inside the well, with a chameleon and a snake as his co satyagrahis.

Medha patkar, Ch. Ramkaran solanki( head of 360 villages of Delhi), Govindacharya, C.V.Rajagopal and others gather at the satyagraha sthal.

18th September
STALLING PROCEEDINGS OF DELHI ASSEMBLY.
Sunil Parbhakar and Kapil Mishra and other young boys and girls from Youth for Justice along with Diwan Singh from Natural Heritage First enter Delhi assembly and stall the proceedings, demanding discussion on Yamuna. Boys taken into police custody. Then there were long discussions on Yamuna in Assembly
27th September
Yamuna satyagraha co-organises a function along with Shahid Bhagat Singh Brigade at Sur Ghat near Wazirabad. The function was organized on birth day of Shahid Bhagat Singh.
2nd October
300 people march from Yamuna Satyagraha sthal to Raj Ghat.
10th October
March to Supreme Court- students of Aravalli Inst. Of Manamgement, Jal Biradari, Youth for Justice, NHF and others totalling more than 200 marches to supreme Court to demand justice for the river. Outnumbered and surrounded by police.
24th October24 hours Yamuna satyagraha starts at NH-8, opposite hotel raddison at Mahipal Pur. Harvinder Rana , a local youth volunteer and his friends take the initiative.

Youth for Justice organizes a huge aarti samaroh for Yamuna at Wazirabad with more than 500 people joining it on the bank of river Yamuna at Sonia Vihar.
12th November
A delegation led by Shri Kuldeep Nayar including Dr. Vikram Soni and Diwan singh from NHF and Manoj Mishra from Peace Institute meets the Group of Ministers.
18th NovemberCandle march organized by Youth for Justice at Central Park in Cannaught Place, warning the government against turning Yamuna Flood plains into another Nandigram.

22nd November

TEMPORARY MORATORIUM – Dr. Vikram Soni and his team’s efforts tastes success. At a meeting of YRDA attended by 40 technical experts from various fields, the LG declares temporary moratorium on further constructions on Yamuna Flood Plains subject to further studies. CGWB commissioned to do further studies and directed to work with Dr Soni’s team.

1 Dec to 9th Dec
Yamuna Bhujal Bachao Yatra organized in all the villages and colonies along both banks in Delhi. Led by Rajender Singh, NGOs and farmers join hands to spread awareness about the significance of Yamuna for ground water recharge.

December

Message to save flood plains displayed at the back of more than 125 Auto Rickshaws with the help of NyayaBhoomi. We can still find these.
Dec
NHF and Youth for Justice and farmers of Yamuna Khadar protests the dissection of yamuna Flood plains by building slip roads in a wrong manner at Vikas Marg.
21 Feb, 2008
Panel discussion at Indian Women Press Corps(IWPC), co organized by NHF, attended by Kuldeep Singh( former Justice, SC), Kuldeep Nayar, Rajender Singh, Dr. Vikram Soni, Vandana Shiva, M.C.Mehta and Bhure Lal. The topic was preservation of natural resources in Delhi.
March
We could not afford to stand mute witness to laborers’ death at Games Village site. Youth for Justice and NHF raised the issue, agitated against unhygienic conditions at the construction site. With support from media, we managed to force the authorities to clean the site and make it hygienic and the deaths stopped.
21 March
Activists burn effigy of Shiela Dixit on occasion of Holi to protest construction of Games village at flood Plains.

Dr. Soni meets Shri Kapil Sibal, heading the ministry of Science and Technology to seek his support for protection of natural resources of the city.
5 June
7 day Yamuna Yatra from Delhi to Agra launched. Organized by Youth for Justice with support from farmers, and NHF, the yatris did overnight stay in the villages or towns along the Yamuna and enjoyed hospitality of local people. It helped in lot of sensitization and awareness raising. Crucial for future campaigns.

Security guards at Games Village not paid salary. Again an instance of injustice right next to us. The poor youth who had come from far away villages in country to serve as security guard at the Games village were subject to exploitation. We again agitated, went to Police etc. Finally, the guards got their salary.

Meeting sports minister Mr.M.S.Gill. Shri Kuldeep Nayar used his good offices to arrange this meeting.

NHF has completes a video film on the water recharge potential of Yamuna Flood Plains and the’ PRESERVE and USE’ scheme proposed. The film is shown to the LG
28th,29th,30th July
Rajender Singh decided to take the message of Yamuna satyagraha to the entire country and launched the ‘nadi sangrakshan satyagraha’. Three day camp was organized at Bal Bhavan in Delhi. Water activists from all over the country attended it.

Cash for vote scam- Youth for Justice and NHF participated in the protest demonstration at India gate. Kept in police custody till late mid night.

Candle march in Central Park organized by Youth for Justice and Aryan Foundation against apathy of judiciary towards the Yamuna cause.
1 Sept
George Fernandez visits Yamuna Satyagraha sthal and admits mistake of NDA in permitting Akshardham Mandir on the flood plains
11 Sept
March to PM’s address venue- satyagrahis taken into custody
Youth for Justice, NHF, and farmers stage protest march to Vigyan Bhavan, the venue of Ground water Congress addressed by Prime Minister Man Mohan Singh. The marchers taken into police custody for through out the day.

23rd September

MORATORIUM SEALED- At the concluding meeting of YRDA, CGWB presented conclusions of its study in response to the study by Dr. Soni’s team. CGWB accepts the water recharge potential of flood plains. The Lt. Governor announces sealing the moratorium.

28th September
Diwan Singh represents Yamuna Satyagraha on World Rivers’day at a function held at Budwani in M.P, organized by Narmada Bachao Andolan.

6th October
At a function held at IIC, Lodhi Road, the LG once again announces his commitment to preserve the yamuna Flood Plains for water recharge and bio-diversity and lauds the role played by Dr. Soni and his team.
Onwards
Since then our activities have mainly been confined to a passive mode. The farmers along with some satyagrahis have been maintaining the satyaraha sthal and continuing with relay hunger strike to demand stop to work on Common Wealth Games village.

During last 1000 days, hundreds of letter have been written to the authorities, scores of protests were organized and we have reached to thousands of people with our message for the River Yamuna.

and the struggle continues....

FOUR YEARS OF "YOUTH FOR JUSTICE"

2010-03-03T16:16:00.000+05:30

REPUBLIC DAY GET TOGETHER- Details

2010-01-27T17:00:00.001+05:30

Details of 26th January 2010 Get Together
Possible Action Programs and Coordinators
1. Campaign for Judicial Reforms- Vipul and Abhijit
a. Vipul to study and collect facts- Abhijit to help him
b. Vipul to mobilize support from other students
c. Next meeting on sunday 31st Jan. 2010 at 6 pm
d. Memorandums to be prepared and presented to authorities
2. Implementation of UGC guidelines
a. Ramanand to coordinate and collect facts on the same
b. Ramanand to make a presentation to the group after finalizing the plan
3. Hemraj suggested action for homeless people in the city- group to decide on it
a. Hemraj will carryout a study on the same
4. Ankita discussed possibility of working on equitable developmental approach and targeting factors causing the migration, after debate on the same, it is decided that the issues is relevant and group will identify areas of possible interventions after studying the feasibility of the same.
5. Ramanand is Coordinator of YFJ-RTI Cell, Sumit will help him
6. Position paper on Commonwealth Games to be released on 3rd march through press conference
7. Position paper to include- introduction of CWG, Facts, our stand and action plan
8. Objectives of the campaign on CWG:
a. Promote sports rather than sporting events
b. spreading awareness about basic facts and history related to CWG
c. ecological cost, economical cost
d. to fix accountability and seek justification

REPUBLIC DAY GET TOGETHER

2010-01-19T15:13:00.003+05:30

Dear All

You are invited to Join us in our

Republic Day Get Together

on 26th Jan. 2009
at 3:00 pm

Highlights:

1. A Video Presentation
2. Discussion on Action Plan- 2010
3. Introduction of New Memebers
4. YFJ Song

All are invited

Venue- 8/32, First Floor, South Patel Nagar
( Near Patel Nagar Metro Station), New Delhi-110008

To confirm your partiicpation-
call- 9818066041, 9818898982, 9810225272, 9971790817, 9990200243
or email at - youth4justice@gmail.com

or confirm your partiicpation here:
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=265011755705

Separate Budget for Agriculture- To make Indian Farmers Globally Competitive

2009-12-29T16:46:00.002+05:30

Article by - Kapil Mishra

About 70 per cent of the population in the country depended on agriculture and related activities, it is unfortunate that there is no separate budget with policies and welfare measures for the benefit of the farming community.

If we look at the Present Agriculture Scenario in India, we observe that Agriculture is Primary sector and backbone of Indian Economy but total plan allocations are only 3.9% in 10^th plan which are down by 1% over 9^th Plan. More than 65 crores population directly dependent on agricultural for its livelihood, but still we do have a separate budget for Agricultural in India, whereas with only 5 crores travelers, Railway has a separate budget. The logic is difficult to understand. Prime Minister of India Dr. Manmohan Singh has announced a target of 4% annual growth for agriculture sector during his independence day speech this year but the actual growth in last quarter is into negatives and there are no signs of recovery in near future.

Farmers suicides in Vidarbha and other parts of country are just symptoms of larger problem of ignorance and insensitive attitude of policy makers towards Indian Agriculture in general and farmers in particular.

Public Investment in agriculture has been on a decline and is currently estimated only 1.5%. The flow of capital is not increasing as stipulated in the Credit Policy of Govt. of India. Farm loan interest rates are still very high and the process of availing a loan from bank is too complex and time taking for small farmers. Large scale corruption in schemes like Kisan Credit Cards is a well known fact. Good quality seeds and other inputs are not easily accessible to the farmers. Most irrigation projects are pending since 1970s. Power supply is a major worry for most of the farmers across country. There is no consistency on Export- Import Policy on agricultural products and inputs. All these factors together makes Agriculture as least desired profession in India which proudly claims to be an Agricultural Economy. According to a survey done by National Farmers Commission, 50% of Indian farmers do not want their children to take up the profession. Agriculture as a profession has lost its dignity and respect in India because of low profitability, physical drudgery and high risk involved in it.

India has most varied agro-climatic conditions but so far we have not exploited its potential and our exports are only 1.1% of global trade.

To deal with changes in world economy and climate and to manage food security while ensuring sustainable development, India needs to focus on Agriculture. This is high time when we should have a separate budget for Agriculture in India. A separate budget may hep in prioritizing the needs of agriculture sector and may provide much needed relief to 600 million small farmers of India. The separate presentation of budget will get exclusive focus and new initiatives. As per recommendations of National Round table on Farmers Issues and agriculture, The Budget for Agricultural should be increased to Rs. 25,000 crores from its present level. By special measures the Gross capital formation in agriculture shall be increased to 15% from its present level of 10%. This would call for more budgetary allocations, greater investments, more credit flow, better prices for farm produce, increased savings and more economic activities and enterprises at village level. Given the size of agricultural operations, the scope for value addition and need to accelerate growth, the public investment in agriculture has to be taken to 5%.

Time has come for making Indian farmers Globally Competitive, like service and industry sectors, Indian farmers also have the potential to compete at Global level while meeting the needs of food security of country, only a focused approach and farmer centric policies are needed. A separate Budget for Agriculture will be a right step in this direction.

Kapil.cifa@gmail.com

Campaign for Separate Budget for Agriculture (CSBA)

2009-12-18T11:21:00.003+05:30

Campaign for Separate Budget for Agriculture (CSBA)

YOUTH FOR JUSTICE under its programme "Farmers and I" announces launch of "Campaign for Separate Budget for Agriculture" (CSBA)

Why this Campaign:

This is to demand from Central Govt. to Present a Separate Budget for Agriculture.

About 70 per cent of the population in the country depended on agriculture and related activities, it Is unfortunate that there was no separate budget with policies and welfare measures for the benefit of the farming community.

Why it is needed:

India has got the largest research and extension system in the world, but we are importing 3 million MT wheat to meet our food security needs
India has the most varied agro-climatic conditions, but so far, we have not exploited its potential and our exports are 1.1 % of the global trade.
India is the most favourite destination for the global giants, but we are unable to provide forward linkages & the processing is below 2%.
With having advanced technologies, India still wastes over 25% of its fruits & vegetables production.
Agriculture is the primary sector, but total plan allocations are only 3.9% in 10^th Plan, which are down by 1% over 9^th Plan.
Agro trade assumes an important dimension, but till now, we don’t have Agricultural Counselors, as the other countries like Holland, Russia, Israel are having.
More than 65 crore population depending on Agriculture, but still we do not have separate budget for this, where as with 5 crore traveler Railways have a separate budget.
After globalization, we are dangerously placed in 32 crops, if opened up completely our 5 crore farmers will get eliminated, but no planning for the crop shift program.
68% of the pesticides samples picked up from UP by CARD, failed in quality standards,
Indian agriculture scientists have done a lot, but the government is yet to wake up to confer a Bharat Ratna to honour to any person connected with farming research and development

(Source: National Round Table on Farmers Issues)

What we Demand

1. Policy Initiatives:

Given the massive implications of WTO for Indian agriculture, a national level WTO Centre on Agriculture should be set up, which should do global studies on trends, opportunities and challenges for Indian agriculture and agro trade on one hand and providing critical information and guidelines to states on the other hand, besides providing training to various key stake-holders on WTO

The Government must make a separate budget for agriculture on the pattern of Railway Budget, given the fact that 2/3^rd of the country’s population depends on agriculture. The separate presentation of budget will get exclusive focus and new initiatives.

India is an agricultural country. But, till date not a single Agricultural Counsellor has been appointed in any of the countries to promote agricultural trade. All major countries like USA, Australia, Japan, Holland, Israel etc. have their exclusive Agricultural Counselors in major countries, who are promoting agri & food trade of their countries.

There are more than 300 channels in India from film to fashion and from sports to spirituality, but none for agriculture. There must be an exclusive DD channel on agriculture to focus on farmers issues and technology transfer.

2. Budgetary Support:

The budget for agriculture to be increased to Rs. 25,000 crores from its present level of less than Rs. 6,500 crores. The increased budget to be directed primarily on agricultural research and extension, which hold key to agricultural productivity and quality.

Public investment in agriculture has been on a decline over the last five years, and is currently estimated at 1.5%. Given the size of agricultural operations, the scope for value addition and need to accelerate growth, this has to be taken to 5%. Greater public investment would mean better infrastructure development and attracting more private investment.

By special measures the gross capital formation in agriculture to be increased to 15% from its current present levels of 10%. This would call for more budgetary allocations, greater investment, more credit flow, better prices to farm produce, increased savings and more economic activities and enterprises at village levels.

Despite so much ‘so called focus’ of the Union Governemnt on agriculture, the Plan allocations to agriculture increased by 39% in 10^th Plan over the 9^th Plan, as compared to 89% growth in 9^th Plan from 8^th Plan. This brought down the Plan allocations for agriculture down to 3.9% in 10^th Plan from 4.9% in 9^th Plan.

3. Farm Credit and insurance

The flow of capital to be increased, as stipulated in credit policy of the Government. The shortfall in 18% stipulated norms for agri lending by most nationalised banks in 2004 - 05 should be made up by additional flow in 2006 - 07 by opening up more retail outlets, installing KCC compatible ATMs and privatizing credit distribution systems on the pattern of urban models. But, more importantly the outreach need to be expanded to cover more farmers, rather than serving the farmers with more credit

The farm loan interest rates are still high, particularly in non-commercial banks, which are still between 12 - 18 %. The interest rates by commercial banks to be reduced to 5 % and by non - commercial banks at a maximum of 10%. This can be done by reducing the cost of processing by more computerization, flatter structures of banks, reduction in risks and by breaking high rate FDs and raising low cost funds.

Given the difficult situation of farmers and in light of the large scale suicide deaths, farmers Group Insurance should be introduced by Government on 75 : 25 percent sharing basis, wherein union Government subsidizes by 75% of a Rs. 2.0 lacs term insurance of one member per family basis. This would cost the union Government a small amount of about Rs. 15,00 crores annually.

The issue of large scale corruption rampant in issuance of KCC needs to be seriously viewed by the Government. According to some MPs, the corruption was earlier in Cooperatives, RRBs and LDBs, but the phenomenon is now extended to Commercial Banks, who ask for 7 – 10% money upfront before issuing KCC. Same is true with most banks for sanctioning ACBC loans

4. Agricultural Inputs

Seeds holds key to crops productivity. Given the need for varietals improvement and diversification, an accelerated R&D program on seeds and biotechnology R&D needs to be taken up to provide technological support to public sector as well as private seeds companies. The Ministry of Agriculture should effectively utilize the budget of Rs. 2,00 crore, preferably under PPP for focussed R&D work for release of high quality hybrids.

The subsidy bill of over Rs. 20,000 crores on fertilizers needs to be rationalized to best utilize and stop its wastage. The subsidy is highly urea centric and the result is fast soil degradation, affecting crops productivity and defeating the very purpose for which subsidies are given. The subsidy does not encourage fertilizer industry to spend on extension, new products development and fertilizers application technologies. There is no subsidy on bio-fertilisers and disbalanced support for P and K and non urea based nitrogenous fertilizers.

Crop losses in India are estimated over Rs. 60,000 crores annually. Pesticides play an important role not only in crop productivity, cost reduction and quality improvement but also in protecting crops from pests and diseases. The cost benefit ratio in using pesticides is heavily in favour of farmers. The Government however needs to check flood of spurious pesticides in market by strengthening quality enforcement and tackling rampant corruption in insecticide laboratories. 16% excise duty on pesticides also needs to be removed (as there is no duty on other agri-inputs) to reduce farmers cost on crop protection.

5. Water Resource Management

To address the scarcity of water and promote scientific agriculture micro-irrigation needs to be promoted on a large scale. The Task Force on MI had suggested an investment of Rs. 63,000 crores over a period of next fifteen years to cover 69.5 million hectare area under drip (27.0) and sprinkler (42.5) systems. As the UPA Government has dropped the Inter-linking of River Project, just 10% of the funds of Rs. 5.60 lac crores envisaged for that project can be allocated for promoting MI.

Water is the major issue in 21st Century, particularly ground water. The ongoing watershed programs needs to be strengthened by sufficient funding support with a focus on how to recharge ground water and involving communities in water harvesting system on farmers' lands. The awareness should be created against un-accountable mining of ground water.

Free power supply to farmers is a major problem, which destroys water resources in the ground due to excessive use. The experiments in Punjab, Haryana and Tamilnadu have proved this point beyond doubt. More over free power supply reverses any progress made in water conservation, judicious use and also affects soil productivity. This needs to be stopped.

Farmers however need to be educated on water usage systems to drift them away from flood irrigation systems, which affects productivity and wastes water. The most important part is the crops planning, which needs to be done keeping water resources of a region and the water intake by various crosp in mind. For example high water consuming crops like paddy and sugarcane should be grown in high rainfall areas.

6. Agricultural exports

India should take firm stand on agricultural market access issue and insist a level playing field as far as agricultural subsidies and market access issues are concerned. Developed countries can not continue heavily subsidizing their farming and ask India to open up its markets. The time gained with the temporary failure of WTO should be utilized for preparing farmers to face the imminent global competition.

The most important issue is to prepare a national crops competitiveness index, based on their competitiveness. There are about 32 crops in which India is uncompetitive in medium and long run, a national level crop shift program needs to be executed.

Just by standing firm on WTO issues, India can not avoid import onslaught far long. It is therefore urgently needed to strengthen our agriculture, improve productivity and quality, reduce post harvest losses by better PHM and accelerate value addition activities at farm level. The processing in fruits and vegetables which is less than 2% needs to be taken to 10% level and for that an investment of Rs. 100,000 crores is needed.

India holds 15% of the world's arable land and numero uno position in several items of agriculture but its share in global trade is less than 1.2%. Through above mentioned measures, market driven R&D, more crop based AEZs and effective exports facilitation, India should aim at 5% of the global trade in agriculture.

7. Rural Employment and Poverty alleviation

The market led reforms in Indian agriculture needs to be introduced and the agricultural operations should be integrated with markets to realize best value of the farm produce. This would also create enough jobs and have catalytic impact on quality.

The income from agriculture needs to be enhanced, which can happen by either reduction in costs or extra productivity or increased support prices. The farm incomes need to be supplemented by more off-farm economic activities, which shall create more jobs and extra disposable income at farmers level. This would improve agri operations, create more demand for manufactured goods and thus step up economic growth rate.

Rural infrastructure, particularly power, storage systems and market yards needs to be strengthened. The quality and supply of power needs improvement. More multipurpose market yards complex, comprised of go downs, cold storage, farmers service centre etc. needs to be set up. Farmers need to be educated on the available scheme of the Ministry and private sector needs to be invited for partnership. Currently support provisions do not permit large scale play of corporates in agricultural marketing and storage operations.

Centre for Agriculture and Rural Development has prepared a mega project of establishing Panchayat Level Agri Growth Centres at an estimated cost of Rs. 21,000 crores. The project outlines creating 10.0 million jobs, 30,000 crores of additional annual farm value, providing market opportunities of Rs. 50,000 crores and initiating various multifarious socio-economic activities, aimed at improving rural quality of life This project needs to be executed.

8. Special initiatives

Public - private partnership needs to be promoted in agriculture research and extension activities, after studying models of various other countries. Over the years industry has developed specialized, cost effective and market oriented technologies and services to supplement Government efforts in this direction.

Positioning Indian agriculture globally in the wake of globalization and leading the pack of developing countries. India can assist them by providing help in research, extension, education and institution building and thus earn money and also goodwill. The World Agriculture Summit needs to be organized in India to move toward that.

Estimation of losses to farmers on account of price fluctuations of farm produce by putting in place a mechanism to regularly monitor on the pattern of Kerala. The system should be developed to compensate farmers due to such losses, as their loss bearing capacity is totally eroded due to poor returns from farming.

Structural reforms in agriculture pertaining to land leasing and market restrictions need to be addressed. The market regulation on movement and procurements by private players is hampering market growth and prices realization by farmers. Similarly due to land leasing policies of State Governments the concept of contract farming is not successful. The experiments of contract farming are based on "win all", bringing value to all partners in operations. This needs to be encouraged on a large scale.

Organic agriculture needs to be given all support. The world market of organic products is estimated at $24 billion and is projected to go to $ 100 billion by 2015. India is ideally placed to take advantage of this, as many regions of the country are organic by default. Such regions and high value crops needs to be identified. Government should support in "India Branding", certification, extension services and in subsidizing bio-inputs. On the pattern of AEZ, Organic Zones need to be promoted.

States profiling of crops and animal resources needs to be done, indexing them against national and global benchmarks on cost, quality and productivity parameters, and their short, medium and long term strategic advantages. Based on this national indexing and estimation of market demands in short, medium and log terms national crop planning needs to be done, using a mix of incentives and dis-incentives. If India has to succeed in global market on a long term basis, this task is unavoidable.

Advanced MSP to be fixed for crops so that farmers can do their crops planning accordingly. This will avoid shortage and glut situations to a large extent.

(Source: National Round Table on Farmers Issues)

NATIONAL FARMERS CONVENTION-2009

2009-11-25T14:35:00.001+05:30

CIFA India’s National Farmers Apex Organization, focusing on 600 million small farmers by networking them as producer groups and providing access to technologies through linking with markets, is organizing the 6^th NFC for the following objectives:-

1 Charter of Demand issues of Farmers and Industry for inclusion in the Union

Budget 2010-11.

2 Prepare CIGs and State Federations programs for training & Technology

Transfer.

3 To identify market connectivity through Contract Farming, Processing &

Commodity Trading.

4 Lobby with policy makers for favorable policies.

5 Join International Farmers Organization for mutually beneficial programs.

For details: www.nfc2009.org

Commonwelath Games are Not Green Games !!

2009-10-29T09:51:00.000+05:30

INVITATION

A drama called Green Common Wealth Games is being enacted in Delhi on 30^th October, 2009 on Delhi Ridge. At 4:30 P.M tomorrow, Delhi Government shall be planting tree saplings at this place.

The venue shall be Bandh road, Ayanagar.

Youth for Justice, Natural heritage First, Ridge Bachao Andolan, Yamuna Satyagraha, and many other NGOs and RWAs shall join in to protest against this farce. This tree planting ceremony by Delhi Govt. shall coincide with a simultaneous tree sapling plantation programme held in London. The objective is to declare these Common Wealth Games as the first ever Green games.

We are tired of this drama by the authorities and will protest against it.

Many thousands of full grown trees have been cut in Delhi and some are waiting for axe to make way for Common wealth games related projects in Delhi.

Some numbers are as follows:

- Covering Sunherei nala and Kushak Nala for parking facility - 3800

- Ring Road By pass from Salim Garh Fort to Yamuna Velodrame

for Park & Ride Scheme - 3700

- At Siri Fort Complex for building Badminton and squash courts - 900

- India Habitat Centre to Seva nagar for Road widening for access

to Jawahar lal Nehru Stadium - 180

- Fly over Construction over Bara Pullah nala - 120

Another big blow to environment came from the site chosen for Common Wealth Games Village. It is being built on Yamuna Flood Plains. The flood plains are a vital water recharge area to meet the water needs of the city. It is also a sensitive eco- Zone.

The above are some of the major instances that show that these games are something other then green.

All of you are invited to join in the event. Please send your name at the earliest so that we can show it in the list of participants.

Venue: Bandh Road , Aya Nagar

Route: From Andheria More, take to Mandi Road. Reach Jauna Pur. From middle of Jauna Pur goes a Bandh Road. Take that. This road reaches a T- Junction. From here take left turn. This takes to the venue

Time: 4:20 P.M

Date: 30^th Oct, 2009

Are we Ready for the Games?

2009-09-12T13:18:00.001+05:30

By: Kapil Mishra
Are we ready to the games?
Seven girls have died in a Delhi Government school following a stampede. This extremely sad and painful incidence is being handled as if it is just another accident.
Seven families have lost their beloved daughters and they don’t even know whom to blame for it.
Sudden death of these girls when they were in school is shocking and simply unacceptable. Accountability should be fixed and culprits should be punished severely. Authorities can not turn away from their responsibilities.
We all know that this is not going to happen and similar incidents will keep taking place in future also. If we look at the school and the locality where this school is located, we find that this school was situated in a poor unauthorised colony where there is no basic infrastructure available. Most of the students who study in this school are from lower socio-economic strata of our society. This is one of the most neglected areas in the city.
There are 1600 unauthorised colonies, hundreds of J.J. Clusters and rural villages in the city and more than 70% of the population of the city lives in these areas. They do not have access to piped drinking water, most of these areas are not connected with regular sewage system, and these areas do not have access to primary health centres and other basic infrastructure.
Sending their girl child to school is never an easy decision for parents from these backgrounds. Most of the girls who go to schools in these areas are first in the history of their families to attend school. Fear of uncertain is the biggest fear that stops parents from continuing the education of their girl child. Everywhere in Delhi eve teasing is a common phenomenon outside such schools. Most often girls do not even tell incidences of eve teasing to their parents because of the fear that if they will share it, their parents will stop sending them to school. A distant dream that this education may help them change their fate and make them come out of the vicious circle of poverty is the motivation that makes these girls so brave that in spite of all odds they keep strive for better education and opportunities. Every girl who is continuing higher education in these schools is doing so at her own risk.
Insecure environment, lack of basic infrastructure and fear of uncertain are common barriers to their path apart from religious and social traditions. Any such incidence may shatter the dreams of many others who are bravely facing all barriers and are struggling their way out of this system. Who is responsible for the death of these girls? Who is accountable for murder of thousands of innocent dreams? People who have this responsibility of creating an enabling environment and also of ensuring that every citizen especially weaker ones like these girls from poor most strata of society are feeling safe and are getting equal opportunities, namely our political leadership and bureaucrats are simple shrugging off their responsibilities. They have more important work to do i.e. the organisation of Commonwealth Games in 2010.
Around 12 years back more than 30 school children died in Delhi when a school bus fell into the yamuna river apparently because of a age old narrow bridge at wazirabad. Government and authorities have immediately announced that a new and wider bridge will be constructed at that place. But nothing has happened even after twelve years of the incident.
In a city where more than 60% population do not get piped water supply, where equal number of people do not have access to basic health facility, where quality education is still a luxury afforded by only 10% people of the society, where sewage, pakka road and complete nutrient diet are still a distant dream for a major section of population, where labour rights are alien concept, this question naturally comes to the mind of concerned citizens of delhi “are you ready for the games?” and the only definite and sensible answer to this is “No”.
Death of these girls should wake up the authorities to the hard core realities of poor standards of infrastructure and administration in our society and we should take urgent actions to address these issues, hiding away into the unrealistic world of games is surely not the way to go.

2009-08-03T15:28:00.000+05:30

यमुना पर नौजवानों का तीन दिवसीय आवासीय शिविर
रिवर्स ऑफ द वर्ल्ड फाऊंडेशन, वाटर कम्युनिटि इंडिया, गान्धी स्मारक निधि, पट्टी कल्याणा और लोक सेवक मण्डल (दिल्ली) द्वारा एक त्रि-दिवसीय आवासीय शिविर का आयोजन किया जा रहा है जिसमें ग्लोबल वार्मिंग, पर्यावरण एवं नदियों के तेजी से गिरते जलस्तर तथा उसके दुष्परिणाम पर बातचीत होगी।
यमुना एक जीवनरेखा नदी(समस्या, प्राणवान बनाने की चुनौतियां, कार्यक्रम और संगठन) पूरे कार्यक्रम का मुख्य बिन्दु होगा।प्रमुख हस्तियां जो कार्यक्रम में भाग लेंगी - प्रो। रामकोदुरी (जल एवं पर्यावरण विशेषज्ञ), प्रो. विक्रम सोनी (नेचुरल हेरीटेज फर्स्ट),श्री ओंकार चंद (लोक सेवक मंडल), श्री महेश दत्त शर्मा (गांधी स्मारक निधि ), श्री दीवान सिंह( यमुना सत्याग्रह), श्री कपिल मिश्र(यूथ फॉर जस्टिस ), श्री राजेश डोकवाल(नेचर फाउन्डेशन), फिल्म निर्माता श्री राकेश खत्री, श्री शम्भु दत्त शर्मा (गांधी सत्याग्रह ब्रीगेड)
कार्यक्रम स्थल - प्राकृतिक चिकित्सा केन्द्र, पट्टीकल्याणा आश्रम, नजदीक समालखा, दिल्ली की तऱफ से 18 किमी पानीपत से पहले

YOUTH FOR JUSTICE respects the SC order on YAMUNA RIVER BED

2009-07-30T14:35:00.002+05:30

Today Supreme Court has allowed Commonwealth Games Village on Yamuna saying that it is not on Yamuna River Bed.
We at "Youth for Justice" respects the order.
Yamuna Satyagraha has lost its purpose long before, when it was decided by a few of people to file a court case against the will of majority of the Satyagrahis. NOW THE COURT CASE HAS BEEN LOST AND SAME PEOPLE ARE BLAMING THE JUDICIARY AND THE SOCIETY FOR THE DEFEAT IN THE COURT.
Since the beginning of Satyagraha there was a consensus among Satyagrahis that court case will not be filed and Satyagraha will be utilised as the tool to achieve the objectives of the movement. Mr. Vinod Jain from Tapas has filed a case and has almost got an order against the construction on river bed but suddenly a case was filed by again these few members of Satyagraha. It affected the proceedings of case filed by Shri Vinod Jain and both cases were given to a double bench of High court. We all know what happened after that. If we see the observation given by the Judge in the case filed by Shri Vinod Jain, one could easily say that second case filed by people from Satyagraha was a mistake (intentionally or unintentionally) that has helped the authorities to go ahead with the construction.

2 YEARS OF YAMUNA STAYAGRAHA :Chronology

2009-07-29T12:11:00.002+05:30

Chronology of YAMUNA SATYAGRAHA by YOUTH FOR JUSTICE
2 Aug to 15th August 2007
Youth for Justice, farmers of Yamuna khaddar and Sunil Parbhakar joins Yamuna Satyagraha. The farmers admirably took responsibility to maintain the Satyagraha sthal. Youth for Justice provided the much needed youth energy for the movement.
Press conferences, folk songs, inviting people/NGOs/polticians from Delhi and outside to sit on satyagraha. Foreign media too troops in. On 15th august, we staged a march to the stream of Yamuna to hoist tri-colour. Yamuna was in good flow but devoid of its flood plains. Unable to meander like a river and recharge the flood plain aquifers.

18th Aug- "YOUTH FOR YAMUNA" WAS LAUNCHED WITH STUDENTS FROM DELHI SCHOOL OF SOCIALWORK
19 August,

SATYAGRAHA IN WELL
Satyagrahis barricaded inside the games village site, pressured to move out. In protest, Sunil Parbhakar(25 years) get down in an abandoned dry well and resumes his satyagraha inside the well, with a chameleon and a snake as his co satyagrahis.

Medha patkar, Ch. Ramkaran solanki( head of 360 villages of Delhi), Govindacharya, C.V.Rajagopal and others gather at the satyagraha sthal.

18th September
STALLING PROCEEDINGS OF DELHI ASSEMBLY.
Sunil Parbhakar and Kapil Mishra and other young boys and girls from Youth for Justice along with Diwan Singh from Natural Heritage First enter Delhi assembly and stall the proceedings, demanding discussion on Yamuna. Boys taken into police custody. Then there were long discussions on Yamuna in Assembly
27th September
Yamuna satyagraha co-organises a function along with Shahid Bhagat Singh Brigade at Sur Ghat near Wazirabad. The function was organized on birth day of Shahid Bhagat Singh.
2nd October
300 people march from Yamuna Satyagraha sthal to Raj Ghat.
10th October
March to Supreme Court- students of Aravalli Inst. Of Manamgement, Jal Biradari, Youth for Justice, NHF and others totalling more than 200 marches to supreme Court to demand justice for the river. Outnumbered and surrounded by police.
24th October
24 hours Yamuna satyagraha starts at NH-8, opposite hotel raddison at Mahipal Pur. Harvinder Rana , a local youth volunteer and his friends take the initiative.

Youth for Justice organizes a huge aarti samaroh for Yamuna at Wazirabad with more than 500 people joining it on the bank of river Yamuna at Sonia Vihar.
12th November
A delegation led by Shri Kuldeep Nayar including Dr. Vikram Soni and Diwan singh from NHF and Manoj Mishra from Peace Institute meets the Group of Ministers.
18th November
Candle march organized by Youth for Justice at Central Park in Cannaught Place, warning the government against turning Yamuna Flood plains into another Nandigram.

22nd November

TEMPORARY MORATORIUM – Dr. Vikram Soni and his team’s efforts tastes success. At a meeting of YRDA attended by 40 technical experts from various fields, the LG declares temporary moratorium on further constructions on Yamuna Flood Plains subject to further studies. CGWB commissioned to do further studies and directed to work with Dr Soni’s team.

1 Dec to 9th Dec
Yamuna Bhujal Bachao Yatra organized in all the villages and colonies along both banks in Delhi. Led by Rajender Singh, NGOs and farmers join hands to spread awareness about the significance of Yamuna for ground water recharge.

Dec

Message to save flood plains displayed at the back of more than 125 Auto Rickshaws with the help of NyayaBhoomi. We can still find these.
Dec
NHF and Youth for Justice and farmers of Yamuna Khadar protests the dissection of yamuna Flood plains by building slip roads in a wrong manner at Vikas Marg.
21 Feb, 2008
Panel discussion at Indian Women Press Corps(IWPC), co organized by NHF, attended by Kuldeep Singh( former Justice, SC), Kuldeep Nayar, Rajender Singh, Dr. Vikram Soni, Vandana Shiva, M.C.Mehta and Bhure Lal. The topic was preservation of natural resources in Delhi.
March
We could not afford to stand mute witness to laborers’ death at Games Village site. Youth for Justice and NHF raised the issue, agitated against unhygienic conditions at the construction site. With support from media, we managed to force the authorities to clean the site and make it hygienic and the deaths stopped.
21 March
Activists burn effigy of Shiela Dixit on occasion of Holi to protest construction of Games village at flood Plains.

Dr. Soni meets Shri Kapil Sibal, heading the ministry of Science and Technology to seek his support for protection of natural resources of the city.
5 June
7 day Yamuna Yatra from Delhi to Agra launched. Organized by Youth for Justice with support from farmers, and NHF, the yatris did overnight stay in the villages or towns along the Yamuna and enjoyed hospitality of local people. It helped in lot of sensitization and awareness raising. Crucial for future campaigns.

Security guards at Games Village not paid salary. Again an instance of injustice right next to us. The poor youth who had come from far away villages in country to serve as security guard at the Games village were subject to exploitation. We again agitated, went to Police etc. Finally, the guards got their salary.

Meeting sports minister Mr.M.S.Gill. Shri Kuldeep Nayar used his good offices to arrange this meeting.

NHF has completes a video film on the water recharge potential of Yamuna Flood Plains and the’ PRESERVE and USE’ scheme proposed. The film is shown to the LG
28th,29th,30th July
Rajender Singh decided to take the message of Yamuna satyagraha to the entire country and launched the ‘nadi sangrakshan satyagraha’. Three day camp was organized at Bal Bhavan in Delhi. Water activists from all over the country attended it.

Cash for vote scam- Youth for Justice and NHF participated in the protest demonstration at India gate. Kept in police custody till late mid night.

Candle march in Central Park organized by Youth for Justice and Aryan Foundation against apathy of judiciary towards the Yamuna cause.
1 Sept
George Fernandez visits Yamuna Satyagraha sthal and admits mistake of NDA in permitting Akshardham Mandir on the flood plains
11 Sept
March to PM’s address venue- satyagrahis taken into custody
Youth for Justice, NHF, and farmers stage protest march to Vigyan Bhavan, the venue of Ground water Congress addressed by Prime Minister Man Mohan Singh. The marchers taken into police custody for through out the day.

23rd September

MORATORIUM SEALED- At the concluding meeting of YRDA, CGWB presented conclusions of its study in response to the study by Dr. Soni’s team. CGWB accepts the water recharge potential of flood plains. The Lt. Governor announces sealing the moratorium.

28th September
Diwan Singh represents Yamuna Satyagraha on World Rivers’day at a function held at Budwani in M.P, organized by Narmada Bachao Andolan.

6th October
At a function held at IIC, Lodhi Road, the LG once again announces his commitment to preserve the yamuna Flood Plains for water recharge and bio-diversity and lauds the role played by Dr. Soni and his team.
Onwards
Since then our activities have mainly been confined to a passive mode. The farmers along with some satyagrahis have been maintaining the satyaraha sthal and continuing with relay hunger strike to demand stop to work on Common Wealth Games village.

PLANTATION IN NAJAFGARH

2009-06-29T12:16:00.005+05:30

KULDEEP NAYYAR AND DIWAN SINGH DURING PALNTATION DRIVE

PLANTATION DRIVE in BAKKARWALA VILLAGE, NAJAFGARH, NEW DELHI

A desiltation and tree plantation drive is organized at water bodies near Bakkarwala village. The event is organized by local residents of Bakkarwala village, Gurdayal Vihar colony and Chanchal Park. Besides the local residents, the participating groups are- YOUTH FOR JUSTICE, Natural Heritage First, Tapas, Gati, PRASAR, Sangrakhshan, Students of University School of Bio technology( I.P.University)and IIT, Delhi.

Senior journalist Shri Kuldeep Nayyar accompanied by Dr. Vikram Soni(Research scientist at NPL) and Vinod Jain(Tapas) will launch and participate in the drive.

Protection of Local Natural Resources to deal with water scarcity. - The residents and the NGOs feel that these water resources are crucial to water security. They believe that the age old culture of desilting and preserving the water bodies need to be revived if we have to deal with water crisis which is increasing year by year in this city. Desilting is a necessary exercise as it would augment recharge of ground water. This function in olden days was performed as a voluntary service by our forefathers in our villages every year before the monsoons arrived. Tree plantation is necessary as it helps purify and hold water.

These water bodies signify culture, history and environment, all come together.

There are four water bodies on a 26 acre tract of Gram Sabha land in village Bakkarwala. The land had been leased to DTC for a depot cum dump yard to accommodate for new low floor buses. However, the residents were strongly against it as the plan would destroy the four water bodies and take away the last available common space in the area from them. The residents want the water bodies to be preserved and protected and tree plantation in the area which would serve as a catchments area for the water bodies and at the same time as park and playground for children and elderly.

However, it also to be noted that construction on the water bodies is also violation of Delhi High Court orders.

Thrice in the past, the administration had tried to take possession of the area but it was thwarted by the residents. On 11May, 2009, the administration came with a 250 strong police force but the residents were not cowed down and they managed to send the administration back without allowing demarcation/possession of land.

The latest is that the administration is not pressing for the land. Meetings with local M.P Mahabal Mishra and CM, Shiela Dixit have indicated that the administration is looking for an alternative site. The matter is also in High Court. The High Court has issued notices to Delhi Govt. in the month of May, 2009. The next date of hearing is 20^th Aug, 2009.

YOUTH FOR JUSTICE ACTION HEROES DURING PLANTATION DRIVE

PLANTATION DRIVE

2009-06-27T11:52:00.000+05:30

YOU ARE INVITED TO JOIN US FOR A PLANTATION DRIVE

THIS SUNDAY

JUNE 28, 2009

AT BAKKARWALA, NEAR NANGLOI

TIME- 5:30 PM

SEE YOU THERE!!

Thanks to Shri Jairam Ramesh

2009-06-06T12:02:00.004+05:30

Another voctory for YOUTH FOR JUSTICE and others struggling for Yamuna
Today our Environment and Forest Minister Shri Jai Ram Ramesh has declared upcoming Commonwealth games village on Yamuna River Bed as models of destruction. his statement marks a clear shift on stand of authorities and justifies YFJ stand on the issues.

Copy of Statement of Shri Jairam Ramesh, Min. of Environment and Forest

Our Thank you note and response to Shri Jairam Ramesh:-

Dear Sir

Greetings!!

We are a New Delhi based Youth Action group “Youth for Justice” working with urban youth on issues related to Environment, Agriculture and various other spontaneous issues that need cognizance.

We are writing this letter to congratulate you and thank you for taking right stand on issues of encroachment on riverbed in the name of Commonwealth Games.

You statement in “Dainik Bhasker” national edition dated 6th June 2009, has sent a right message to the people who are concerned about various threats to our natural resources and environment and it has definitely boosted morale of groups and organizations that are struggling for the right cause.

Since August 2007, we have been raising these issues of illegal construction on Yamuna river bed in the name of games village, in fact we have organized a series of discussions, joint marches, candle light vigils etc. to raise public awareness on the issue. But some individuals in authority were keen on going ahead with the project despite clear the realization of the mistake done in choosing the venue and type of structure.

We have information on how this construction violets direction given by Honorable High Court and how it was allowed without required clearance from various authorities. This construction is also completely against the promise that we have made to international community while bidding for the Games.

We do understand that it is almost impossible to stop the construction or change the venue at this point in time but request you that those who are responsible for deliberately violating the norms should be brought to justice.

You have assumed the responsibility of this office at very critical stage, as a nation we are going through a phase of transition and large scale constructions and mega projects are order of the day. While such developmental projects are need of the hour at the same time we need to ensure that these projects do follow required norms and guidelines so that our environment and natural resources should be conserved.

We also seek an appointment with you so that we can share the information that we have on irregularities and violation of promises made by authorities while bringing the games to Delhi.

You have a great role to play and nation especially those who are concerned about our common future are looking at you.

Again we would like to thank you.
Looking forward to your response
Thanks and Regards

Kapil Mishra
General Secretary
Youth for Justice
http://www.y4j.blogspot.com/
E-mail- youth4justice@gmail.com

Ph. – 91-11-9818066041

YOUTH FOR JUSTICE- GENERAL MEETING

2009-06-03T14:43:00.000+05:30

Dear All

First of all I would like to congratulate all the members and supporters of "Youth for Justice" for all the unique initiatives and action that we have takes together in last three years.

When in 2006m we formed this group, none of us has imagined that this small initiative is not only going to survive but also grow both in terms of quantity and quality.

YFJ impact on various issues is quite visible and we have been successful in changing the perception about urban youth in various ways.

Bigger positions bring bigger responsibilities and it is time for us to prepare ourselves for bigger role of ensuring real participation of youth in the policy making processes.

It is in this regard, I take this opportunity to invite you all for "Youth for Justice" General Meeting on 5th June 2009 at Gandhi Peace Foundation, near ITO, Delhi.

That day there is a conference on FOOD SECURITY by our partners and you all are invited to join the same as well.

(Lunch will be provided by the organizer)

Please ensure that you join us there and you are free to bring your friends and colleagues who share a passion for change.

For further enquiry and details please feel free to contact us at youth4justice@gmail.com or call me at 9818066041.

Looking forward to meet you

Thanks and Regards

Kapil Mishra
Youth for Justice
www.y4j.blogspot.com

Food Security and Indian Small and Marginal Farmers

2009-05-23T16:23:00.002+05:30

by Kapil Mishra

Last one year, world has witnessed a Global fall in economies. Everywhere we hear the talks of recession and its impact on economies, job lay offs, etc. One more aspect that International community especially organizations like World Bank, IMF etc. have realized that this recession is not impacting Indian Economy as badly as it is affecting others. According to recently published research study by International Institute of Management Development (IMD) India is better prepared to handle recession than countries like USA, Britain, Japan, China, Russia etc.

What is so unique about our economy, what are the factors that are saving Indian Economy and what has made India better prepared to handle this recession is not a hidden secret. India is an agricultural country.

70% of Indian population is directly or indirectly dependent on agriculture and allied activities; this population remains more or less unaffected by this economic slowdown. In 2008, India’s so called illiterate and ignorant farmers have saved the country from collapse. The lesson to learn here is that agriculture alone can save and sustain the country in creating employment, curtailing migration, producing sufficient food and sustaining the economy.

But for Indian farmers there is very little hope left. While our elite have gained wealth, comforts, name and fame. Our Farmers / Kisans have not only lost their sustainability and livelihood but also their self respect. Agriculture is neither profitable nor the farmers are happy. Other professionals are organizing themselves and making money, going places and earning prosperity and popularity, our farmers are being forced to migrate to cities and left to beg or work as laborers to make both ends meet. Every year 20,000-30,000 farmers are committing suicides but no one in noticing. Farmer suicides in various parts of India are worst crisis human civilization has ever faces. But it is not getting required attention from policy makers, from farmer organizations and from media. Read more...

Our Response to TOI article

2009-05-20T15:36:00.003+05:30

"YOUTH FOR JUSTICE" Response to Dr. E. Shridharan views on Yamuna published in Times of India on 20th May 2009.

To
The Editor
Times of India

This is with response to story published in your esteemed newspaper titled "Restrict Yamuna with walls and develop low lying areas" sharing views of Dr. E Shridharan, Managing Director of Delhi Metro.

In the article you have mentioned Dr. Shridharan blaming a handful of environmentalists as obstacle in the way of saving yamuna.

"Youth for Justice" is actively involved in the campaign against construction of Commonwealth Games village on Yamuna riverbed and since last two years we are carrying out series of protests, joint marches and other events sensitizing people on the issue. We have also raised the voice for the Yamuna river inside Delhi Assembly and some of our volunteers were got detained for the act.

It is very clear that we are part of these "handful of environmentalists" Dr. Shridharan is refereeing to. So we find it natural to share our response to the same.

First of all , we would like to share that we have great respect for Dr. Shridharan and we also perceive as a role model for all those who aspire to create a modern India. His achievements in Konkan Railway and Delhi Metro are remarkable.

On Yamuna issue we have a stand that Yamuna river bed should be protected as it is the biggest source for drinking water to the people of Delhi and at the same time this river bed is only major source for ground water recharge and if we allow it to destroy it would drastically affect the already diminishing ground water table of the city.

Mr. Shridharan is comparing Yamuna river with European rivers like Thames , this itself is like comparing the non comparable. European rivers are completely different than Himalayan river in terms of Nature, flow, rain fall, flood, etc. and thus both can not be treated alike. Similar treatment is bound to result in an ecological disaster.

Secondly, Mr. Shridharan is blaming a few environmantalists but he forget to mention moratorium issued by Lt. Governor of Delhi which prohibits any concrete construction on the river bed.

Similarly his opinion is not in line with the river zone development plan ( zone "o") presented by DDA. Mr. E. Shridharan should have a look on the same.

Similarly opinion of Delhi High Court has also been against what Mr. Shridharan is proposing and more than once Delhi High Court has made it clear that no permanent or temporary construction of any nature should be allowed on the river bed.

It shows that perhaps this time Mr. Shridharn is not making an informed choice.

At the same time we also would like to make it clear that we are not against development and we also believe that there are hundreds of unauthorised colonies on the river bed which are seeking basic developmental initiatives for years and we fully support the idea of changing the land use to accommodate these colonies in the mainstream development policies of the city.
Commonwealth Games villages and Akshardham can wait but kind of humanitarian crisis that is unfolding in these colonies requires our immediate attention.

We respect Dr. Shridharan and would like to request him through your esteemed newspaper that he should come out with a detailed plan for yamuna and then this plan should be made available for response from experts and public. Random suggestions and blaming citizen groups for their well informed actions is not going to solve the purpose.

We have decided not to join the protest against launch of Delhi Metro Yamuna Bank Station because we feel that Delhi Metro is for social interest, but is doesn't mean that we should accept anything in the name of development.

Sustainable and Justified development is the need of the hour and we would keep raising our voices for the same.

Again we request you to share our views with the readers and with Dr. Shridharan so that a much needed public debate on Yamuna and Sustainable development of the city can be initiated.

Thanks and Regards

Kapil Mishra
for Youth for Justice

Yamuna:views of E. Shridharan (METROMAN)

2009-05-20T14:45:00.000+05:30

( As published in TOI on 20th May 2009)

Restrict Yamuna with walls and develop low-lying areas
Dr E Sreedharan, MD of Delhi Metro Rail Corporation, says a handful of environmentalists are coming in the way of saving the river and calls for setting up of an SPV to do the job
When the members of the British parliament sat in the House of Commons on a day in the late 1850s, they could not transact any business on account of the foul stench emanating from the Thames. That was the day the government decided to clean up the river and limit its width by building high retaining walls along both banks. By so confining the river, a new hydrological regime was achieved which resulted in self-cleansing during high and low tides. Sewage and industrial effluents flowing into the Thames were intercepted and taken elsewhere for treatment. The large tract of low-lying areas behind the retaining walls were given for real estate development. And that is how London is today — clean, with majestic and monumental buildings lining the banks of the Thames. The same story appears to have been repeated for all great cities located on river banks whether it is Paris, Budapest, Moscow, New York or Seoul. In all these cities, the river is ‘trained’ (cause to grow in a particular direction or shape) with retaining walls and the banks on either side are beautified with parks, promenades and landmark buildings. Why cannot Delhi also learn lessons from the experience of these cities? The Yamuna river has to be trained and confined to a width that is defined between abutments of the existing bridges by constructing appropriate guide bunds or retaining walls, and the large sprawling tracts of low-lying areas behind these walls utilized for high-end developments which can make the city rich, beautiful and prosperous. A handful of self-styled environmentalists is stalling this idea. The result is rampant encroachments on the riverbed by jhuggis which catch fire at regular intervals every summer, often burning alive a few people. Sewage and untreated industrial waste are let into the river without treatment and nobody owns up responsibility for the same. The so-called environmentalists are vociferous against clean development schemes which are vital for the city, such as Commonwealth Games Village, Metro constructions, Akshardham Temple, etc. If the Yamuna is to be saved, there is only one way. Control the width of the river, not allowing flood waters to inundate the lowlying areas of the city and allow the river to reach its own natural regime in the constricted width. Model studies in the Central Water and Power Research Institute (CWPRI), Khadakvasala, can validate the philosophy of this argument. Two large longitudinal sewers should be built behind the rampart walls to intercept all the sewage falling into the river, take the sewage to a far-off place, and after proper treatment, let the effluents flow into the river. Industries should treat their effluents before they are let into the river. The lowlying areas behind the masonary embankments should be released for high-end development. A Special Purpose Vehicle (Yamuna Development Authority) should be set up under an Act of Parliament, fully empowered to train the river and to manage the developments on the released lowlying areas. The resources needed for all these can be easily raised by exploiting the released riverbeds. In the development plan, a corridor of 300 metres should be reserved adjacent to the river bank for gardens, promenades and recreation centres. Initially the stretch between Wazirabad barrage and Kalindi Kunj could be taken up for river training, and the project can be extended downstream and upstream in due course. The government has already spent more than Rs 1200 crore for cleaning the river. Where has all this money gone? If development as suggested above can be undertaken, the river can be saved, Yamuna can be made clean and the river-fronts can be made the pride of the city. It is time the government and the judiciary listen to the voice of professionals and not to the vague fears of a few so-called environmentalists. In all great cities located on riverbanks, whether it’s Paris, Budapest, Moscow, New York or Seoul, the river is ‘trained’ with retaining walls and the banks beautified with parks, promenades and landmark buildings Two large longitudinal sewers should be built behind the rampart walls to intercept all the sewage falling into the river, then take it to a far-off place and release the sewage into the river after proper treatment These so-called environmentalists are vociferous against clean development schemes vital for the city, such as the Games Village, Metro, Akshardham Temple. It’s time the govt and judiciary listen to the voice of professionals

Respect the freedom of expression

2009-05-07T10:07:00.002+05:30

We appeal to all those who are reading our blog and are not in a position to accept our views due to political reasons or otherwise to respect the freedom of expression. You are most welcome to comment or give suggestions if you have any.

Reporting spam or taking actions which exposes your cowardice are not welcome and will be dealt with strong reaction from Youth for Justice.

Broaden your mind .

All we can say that you are most welcome to raise your voices for or against our stand on any issue but please also raise your standard and accept that these are our views and we are not imposing our views on any one.

Reporting spam in an act of cowardice.

Respect the freedom of expression.

Our PM should be from LOKSABHA only

2009-05-06T21:50:00.003+05:30

India is a democratic country and it should be run by democratically elected leaders.

This is the essence of our constitution adopted by people of Indian republic.

We the members of this community demand from our political leadership including all the political parties through President of India that from now onwards India should have a democratically elected person as Prime Minister.

We appeal from the core our hearts to save the spirit of our constitution.

We also would like to make it clear that any attempt against this would face opposition from us and we would not hesitate to take our protest on streets to save the spirit of our great constitution.
Anyone who wishes to lead this great nation as Prime Minister should have guts to face elections should prove his ability to get elected as people's representative in Loksabha.

This is a completely non political community and we do not support or oppose any individuals candidature for the Post of Prime Minister.

Join us on
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JOIN US AND SPREAD IT TO ALL!!!

ONE INITIATIVE OF YOURS CAN SAVE THE DEMOCRATIC SPIRIT OF OUR CONSTITUTION.

VOTE WE MUST- YFJ NEXT ACTION CAMPAIGN

2009-03-03T13:42:00.003+05:30

VOTE WE MUST
- by Kapil Mishra

जब लोभ सिद्धि का आँखों पर मांण्डी बन कर छ जाता है

तब वह मनुष्य से बड़े बड़े दुश्च्त्य कृत्य करवाता है

फिर क्या विस्मय, कौरव- पांडव भी नहीं धर्म के साथ रहे

जो रंग युद्ध का है उससे, उनके भी अलग न हाथ रहे

दोनों ने कालिख धूमी, शीश पर जय का तिलक लगाने को

सत्पथ से दोनों डिगे, दौड़ कर विजय- बिन्द तक जाने को

- Ramdhari Singh Dinkar

True we do not see any better alternative today. All political parties are corrupt to the core. With no vision for a better common future and no motivation to bring the desired positive change in the society, our present political leadership is driven only by one motive of gaining the POWER. But they are completely clueless on what to do with that power. POWER has become the ultimate goal instead of the medium to achieve desired socio economic changes.
No matter who comes to the POWER after upcoming general elections, we all know that nothing substantial is going to change.
Issues that are important to Our Nation, to our society are completely missing from the priority lists of present political leadership.
Nobody is talking about Health, Nobody is talking about Water and sanitation, nobody is talking about Education, Employment, and Women Empowerment...the list can go on.
The issues that are being presented as the CORE issues do not directly affect our common future, but all these issues do. Who cares?
Political Parties are all geared up to sell themselves as a commodity to the People of India in upcoming elections. Some are relying on Royal Families, some on Terror attacks and some on selective VOTE Banks to achieve their only goal- POWER or some share of it.
The only option left to those who are concerned is to take the lead. This is high time when we should "STOP BLAMING AND START CLAIMING".
This journey from blaming to claiming would start from our Active Participation in the Dance of Democracy. Active participation of all those who are concerned about our common future in Indian Politics is the only way to bring positive change in the Politics and through this in the society at large.
Active participation starts from developing basic understanding of the System, of our leadership and then VOTING for the best possible alternative.
This would just mark the beginning of the CHANGE.....our VOTE does matter, but only VOTE is not a way out. Lets pledge together to bring desired positive CHNAGE by ensuring Active Participation in the process of decision making. First STEP towards this would be To Vote.
LET’S PLEDGE THAT WE ALL WOULD VOTE IN UPCOMING ELECTIONS......
"VOTE WE MUST"

"VOTE WE MUST" is a "Youth for Justice" Initiative-

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LEAD INDIA- http://leadindia.itimes.com/content.php?cid=64813

2009-02-25T17:16:00.001+05:30

THE MARCH - YOUTH FOR JUSTICE is Joining

2009-02-25T16:36:00.003+05:30

THE MARCH AGAINST

TERRORISM AND CORRUPTION

"YOUTH FOR JUSTICE " is supporting and participating in "THE MARCH" organised by ART OF LIVING

India has the dubious distinction of being one of the most corrupt nations in the world, ranking a poor 45 of the 49 countries evaluated on the World Economic Forum Survey 2003 'Honesty' index. Having ingrained itself into the psyche of our civilized society and governance system, corruption is impeding development and is leading to severe breakdowns and distortions in almost all aspects of our society.
Its most dangerous manifestation is in the form of terrorism. According to the database information released by START (The National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terror) 4,108 terrorist incidents occurred in India between 1970 to 2004 which put India into sixth place in Terrorism hit nations list. More than 400 people died in terror attacks in 2008. The actual figure is unknown.
As a country, we need to actively start moving in a concerted way against these twin evils that are now threatening our very existence.
So let us send out a call to our country to create a safe society. A society which has no fear in walking into an airplane, a train or a bus. Or when we enter a mall, a cinema or a hotel, with our children. Or even our very own homes.
Let us take responsibility and bring the change - for our future and our future generations.
Ask not what your country Can do for you, Ask what can you do For your country.
To Join THE MARCH please log in to:

www.themarch.in

2009-02-07T20:37:00.001+05:30

2009-02-07T14:01:00.002+05:30

YOUTH FOR JUSTICE

WE ARE THE CHANGE WE WANT TO SEE

COMPLETING

THREE YEARS OF YOUTH ACTION

3rd MARCH 2009

2009-01-11T12:07:00.000+05:30

Youth for Yamuna: A YFJ initiative to make Delhi relate with its lifeline

2009-01-08T19:13:00.003+05:30

YOUTH FOR YAMUNA

- a YFJ initiative to make Delhi relate and stand for its lifeline!!!

To know more about the campaign and our latest action in 2009 keep visiting the blog or contact us at youth4justice@gmail.com or call us at 9818066041

High Court verdict: YAMUNA MORE IMPORTANT THAN GAMES

2008-11-04T14:57:00.000+05:30

New Delhi, November 03
Indian Express

“It is fear and anxiety that makes me pen these lines,” begins Justice Rekha Sharma in a crisp four-page verdict that says the river is “gasping for breath”.
Supplementing a formal 45-page judgment from Justice A K Sikri, is the four page judgment from his “sister Justice Rekha Sharma”, who says the entire project of building on the Yamuna riverbed is a “sad story of men fiddling with major issues and resultantly playing havoc”. “This judgment,” she observes, “relates to a river which once flowed majestically but is now gasping for breath. If this continues, time is not far off when this gift of Gods will die an unnatural death buried under layers of silt.”
She pits the oft-mooted contention of “development” with the environmentalists’ cry of “save the river”, and concludes that Yamuna is more important of the two. “The significance and importance of the Commonwealth Games is not lost on anyone (but) the impact of building on the Yamuna, its environment, ecology and the long-term damage is, as the petitioners (environmentalists) say, pregnant with disaster,” the judge notes. “If no urgent measures are taken, the Yamuna may exist only in books.” Justice Sharma also notes: “No doubt is left that the site in question is on the river bed.”
In his separate judgment, Justice Sikri considers the issue a “disputed question” that needs to be looked into by an expert committee.
But Justice Sharma goes a step further to add that even if the construction is not on the riverbed, “urbanisation and colossal construction underway may yet adversely affect the environment, the river and the ecology”. She also lashes out at the National Environmental Engineering Research Institute for unexpectedly changing its stand to favour urbanization. Justice Sharma concludes with a parting shot that neither the government, DDA or the NEERI have been “fair” to the river.

Floods in Yamuna in Delhi: Commonwealth Games nightmare coming true?

2008-08-17T21:10:00.006+05:30

Repeated warnings were ignored by State Govt.

Prestige of Nation at Stake?
NEW DELHI: For the first time in the last five years, water level of the Yamuna river flowing through the national capital has crossed danger mark to touch 205.55 meters, with authorities stepping up precautionary efforts. At least sixty people were trapped by flood waters after their jhuggies were inundated at the catchment area of the river in Umanpur area in east Delhi. "They ignored our earlier warnings to shift from the site when the water level had touched the danger mark. Now we have evacuated them to safer places," Development Minister Rajkumar Chauhan told. Jhuggi dwellers spent the day shifting their household goods to safer places with the help of the administration. "This is for the first time in the last five-six years that water level in Yamuna has reached to 205.55 metres. However, there is no imminent threat to life and property," he said. The river had crossed the danger mark of 204.83 metres in September 6, 1978, when it rose to 207.49 metres and caused heavy floods in the city. The danger levels were also crossed during 1995 and 1998 when the water level of the river rose to 206.96 metres and 206.18 metres respectively. According to Chauhan, the water level today reached 205.55 against Saturday's 205.43 metres, which is about 1.50 metres above the danger mark. "The water level in the Yamuna has risen consistently as Haryana is releasing 2,5000 cusecs of rainwater everyday. And if this continues, the water level is expected to further rise in the next few days," he said. As a precaution, the authorities are releasing more than 50,000 cusecs of water from Wazirabad barrage to Okhla barrage as well ITO barrage. Also, control rooms have been set up at strategic places to keep a round-the-clock vigil on the water flow.
YFJ view:

These are decadal foolds, a regular phenomenon in Yamuna flood plains, however this time because of illegal encroachments on yamuna flood plains by Govt. in the name of Commonwealth Games , these floods are threating to cause massive harms and devastaion.

This is high time Govt. should take immediate steps to save the city from this danger, we appeal both central and state govt to rethink on their plans for constructing Games village for CWG 2010 on yamuna flood plains.

(Kapil Mishra, YFJ)

"Youth for Justice" completes One Year of Yamuna campaign

2008-08-10T23:00:00.002+05:30

Hundreds came out to celebrate and take pledge to revive Yamuna River

People's movement to save and revive river Yamuna in the capital city of India completes one year as hundreds came out to join celebration organized today by "Youth for Justice", Arya Vir Dal ,Citizen’ front for water democracy, Natural Heritage First, Bhagat Singh Brigade and many other civil society organisations at Central Park, C.P. in Delhi.
It has been a year since Yamuna campaign was launched in Delhi to protest against constructions on the river bed. Various NGOs and resident groups joined this campaign. A large number of public events were done to send message to authorities that the destruction of riverbed is not acceptable to the people of Delhi.
We are analyzing below the roles of various authorities and different organs of the state:
We are disappointed that the construction of Games Village is going on the riverbed.
With this gathering we are registering our strong protest with the various organs of the state for not delivering good administration and justice.
First and foremost, the judiciary for not giving a judgment on case filed against these constructions. This way the constructions are bound to become a matter of fait accompli. This way people are losing faith in this institution, which was our last hope in the chaos, the nation is going through.
We do thank the Lt. Governor of Delhi, who is also heading the Yamuna River Development Authority, for declaring moratorium on any further constructions on river Yamuna. However, we are taken aback with the rider that it is subject to further studies. There are already existing studies by various technical experts on the subject which disallow any constructions here. Such as by NEERI, MoEF Expert Committee, Yamuna Standing Committee, High Court appointed Monitoring Committee, and Delhi University. It is really strange that in spite of so many studies, The LG have gone for more studies. What is wrong with the existing studies! Have they been proved wrong by anyone? If not, then why go for another one. Is this a ploy to justify the constructions through new studies!
The Central Ground Water Board has a role to protect any vital water recharge area. It is an undisputed fact that the sandy composition of the floodplains makes them the best water recharge areas. The floodplains, thus not only having a huge capacity to store water but also plenty of water is available for recharge during the monsoon floods. It is an unresolved query of the public as to why this department is not trying to protect these areas from any destructive activities like construction. If this department is not doing such a vital function, then it better be wound up and its officials be punished for promoting destruction of this city.
The Zonal Plans are showing a massive expansion of the city which will lead to an increased sewage generation. We have failed to understand that when the city has not been able to treat and handle the existing sewage generated, then why we are creating scope for more generation. This expansion in all the Zonal plans should not be allowed till the time we have taken care of the present sewage generation. A yatra along the river Yamuna downstream of Delhi was organized by Youth for Justice and other supporting NGOs on June 5. We found that the hundreds of villages in Haryana and U.P, downstream of Delhi are severely affected by the sewage released from Delhi. Their aquifers are polluted and the crop quality is suffering, thus polluting the whole food cycle. The latent anger seen in the denizens of these villages, targeted at the real culprit Delhi, was so palpable that we could feel it and its only a matter of time when our own sewage may hit us back. We see a potential inter state war on the issue of pollution of river waters. It is learnt that the environment minister of Haryana has already once raised this issue.
We the citizens of Delhi can not afford to grow irresponsibly and put in peril our own survival. We need to immediately halt any expansion plans till the time we are able to take care of our existing sewage in a sustainable manner to the satisfaction of our neighboring states, who have to bear the brunt of our waste.
With this, we appeal to all the political parties to explain their stand on the above facts and declare their future strategy by including in their election manifesto.
We pledge that we will continue with our efforts to protect the river Yamuna with greater vigour and if need we will also engage in direct action to save the river.

YOUTH MARCH FOR YAMUNA

2008-08-06T00:16:00.002+05:30

CELEBRATING ONE YEAR OF YOUTH ACTION FOR YAMUNA

JOIN US

This Sunday Aug. 10, 2008

5:00pm

CENTRAL PARK, C.P.

YOU ARE INVITED

2008-07-25T23:10:00.002+05:30

M.P.s For SALE !!!

CAN WE AFFORD TO REMAIN SILENT???

JOIN THE PROTEST LED BY ARVIND KEJRIWAL

THIS SUNDAY
27th July 2008
at INDIA GATE
at 6:00pm

FORWARD IT TO ALL
call Kapil- 9818066041, Vikram -9990200243-

YOUTH FOR JUSTICE- REAL ISSUES:REAL ACTIONS

2008-07-10T22:07:00.001+05:30

YOU ARE INVITED

"YOUTH FOR JUSTICE" WEEKLY MEETING

THIS SUNDAY

13th JULY 2008

AT 6:00pm

AT CENTRAL PARK, C.P.

Agenda: Youth Acton IN NEW ACADEMIC SESSION

confirm your presence call kapil- 9818066041

or mail us at youth4justice@gmail.com

YAMUNA AARTI by Kapil Mishra, "Youth for Justice"

2008-06-14T13:17:00.003+05:30

“यमुना आरती”
जय यमुना जय जल की दाता, कालिंदी तुम जग की माता,
जो कोई तुम्हारे नाम को ध्यावे , कष्ट रोग से मुक्ति पावे .
तुम सूरज की पुत्री प्यारी, दुखियों के सब कष्ट निवारी
यम् नियम तुम्हारे दोउ भाई , भक्तन की तुम सदा सहाई.
श्याम वर्ण अति रूप मनोहर , सुंदर पुष्प माल शोभित कर
तुम विष्णु की अति दुलारी , पातक हारी पाप संहारी .
माँ यमुना पर संकट आयो , नाग कालिया बहुत सतायो,
निर्मल जल विष से भर दीन्हो , बाँधि के तट कष्ट बहु दीन्हो ,
भक्त मुनि सब जाई पुकारा , प्रभु विष्णु तब लिया अवतारा.
कान्हा रूप नन्द घर आये , यमुना तट पर रास रचाये ,
कालीय मर्दन कृष्ण तब कीन्हा , यमुना के सब कष्ट हर लीन्हा
पुनि निर्मल जल भव्य स्वरुपा, यमुना धरी मनोहर रूपा ,
यमुना जल रस बना आधारा, हंसी हंसी कृष्ण कंस को मारा .
सब संतन की रक्षा कीजे , भाई दूज का फल तुम्ही से,
युधिस्ठिर तुम्हारे भेद को जाना, खंदव प्रस्थ तब रहा बियाना
यमुना तट एक नगर बसाया , देवलोक तक विस्मय छाया ,
इन्द्र किये तब वर्षा भारी, यमुना ने तट दिए पसारी
धरती भीतर उदार विस्तारा, वर्षा जल संचित भय सारा
इन्द्र हरा कर स्वर्ग पठायो , इन्द्रप्रस्थ तब नगर कहायो
तुम हो जल अन्न की दाता , अष्ट सिद्धि तुम सुख प्रदाता
चपल चतुर चंचल महारानी , कृष्ण प्रिये तुम्ही पटरानी
कोटी योजन तुम्हरो विस्तारा , कलयुग केवल तुम्ही आधारा.
मात रूप जीवन की दाता, पिता रूप तुम अन्न प्रदाता
सखा रूप फल पुष्प प्रदायी, तुम्हरी महिमा पार न पाई
तुम संत जन कष्ट निवारी, दुष्ट जन तुर्तही संहारी
जय यमुना जय पावन करनी, कष्ट हरण सब मंगल करनी
क्षमा करो हम समझ न पाए , तुमको अगणित कष्ट दिलाये
क्षमा करो हम बांधे तुमको, दूषित जल से सांधे तुमको
क्षमा करो माँ शरण तुम्हारी, क्षमा क्षमा माँ विनती हमारी
जय यमुना जय क्षमा प्रदायी, जय यमुना कालिंदी माई
जय यमुना जय जय महारानी , जय यमुना जय जय पटरानी

-(कपिल मिश्र, यूथ फॉर जस्टिस द्वारा रचित यमुना आरती )

YOUTH FOR JUSTICE
KAPIL-9818066041, VIKRAM- 9990200243, HEMRAJ- 9868853277, PREETY-9311356001,
http://www.y4j.blogspot.com/
email- youth4justice@gmail.com

YOUTH FOR JUSTICE

2008-06-13T15:06:00.002+05:30

Green riders to spread awareness about Yamuna pollution

June 4th, 2008 - 3:02 pm ICT by IANS - Email This Post http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/enviornment/green-riders-to-spread-awareness-about-yamuna-pollution_10056383.html
New Delhi, June 4 (IANS) On World Environment Day Thursday, a group of activists, students and environmentalists will travel on their motorbikes along the most polluted stretch of the Yamuna river, from Delhi to Agra, reminding themselves and sensitizing others of the alarming situation.The 10-day rally, which will have over 25 participants, is called “Qutub se Taj, Ek hi Awaaz”.
Kapil Mishra of the Youth for Justice group, which is spearheading the campaign, said that this rally is just the beginning of a year-long campaign to spread awareness about the Yamuna.
“Through this rally, we will be tracing the most polluted and threatened 200 km stretch of the Yamuna, from Delhi to Agra. While going to Agra, we will travelling on the left bank of the Yamuna and while returning, on the right,” Mishra told IANS.
“Enroute, we will camp at various villages on the river banks like in Faridabad and Ballabhgarh and interact with the villagers - tell them about the deplorable state of the river and how they can do something about it,” he added.
This, Mishra said, will help the group understand the river’s influence on the socio-cultural and religious framework of the society.
The group will reach Agra June 10 when there will be a `aarti’ (traditional Hindu worship) of the river near the Taj Mahal. They will return in Delhi June 15.
A question, though, which pricks one is that why a rally on motorbikes? Wouldn’t bicycles be more eco-friendly?
“We had many discussions on this factor. But we realized that a rally on bicycle for this long a stretch will be very exhausting and time consuming. Moreover, all our motorbikes have their pollution certificates in place.
“And then we felt that it’s better that we do something instead of shelving the entire plan and sit doing nothing,” Mishra said.

Latest update on Bike Yatra

2008-06-04T22:45:00.001+05:30

The Yamuna satyagrah Yatra 2008 flags off tomorrow at 9 am from the Satyagrah sthal as planned on an around 600 km journey of a search of the 'satya' of the river from Delhi till Agra and back on either side of the river, as also to establish a baseline of the river as on June 2008. This is to place on record the material support received by us from Jal Biradari, CMS, A group of techies based in Delhi through YOUTH FOR JUSTICE and above all Sri Abhinandan Sekhri who singlehandedly raised almost half of the funds needed for the Yatra. Soliciting blessings and good wishes of all on this list for a useful Yatra.

HT NEWS

2008-06-04T15:07:00.001+05:30

HINDUSTAN TIMES NEWS

ON 4TH JUNE 2008

YAMUNA SATYAGRAHA COMPLETES 300 DAYS

2008-05-28T18:09:00.000+05:30

It started with storm and rain and ended with Yamuna Aarti. It is a tribute to an undaunted commitment of Satyagrahis that the 300th day for many of them started at 730 am today at the crossing of the ring road with NH 24 leading to the Nizamuddin bridge cum road with banners announcing boldly the need to preserve the river and the river bed and placards hanging around their necks, busy distributing pamphlets to all those (the Monday morning office goers rush) who awaited at the crossing for the traffic light to turn green from red. Soon the sudden storm and the blinding rain caught up with the commuters and the Satygrahis alike. But the Satyagrahis braved the rain and despite being drenched to their bones continued to outreach to the commuters in form of the pamphlets. No wonder many commuters were heard to express amazement on the steadfast commitment of the Yamuna satyagrahis. This continued till about 1100 hrs when the rain gods relented and the skies opened up. The planned Satyagrah at the crossing continued till lunch time (2 pm) by which time around 10,000 pamphlets had been given away. Later the Satyagrahis who by now numbered more than 250 assembled at the Satyagrah Sthal to take stock of the Satyagrah and to plan for its future. Led by Rajendra Bhai, a rally was also held on the NH 24. The day was closed with a Yamuna aarti.

"YFJ RESPONSE TO CMs PRAYER TO GOD"

2008-05-16T16:48:00.002+05:30

PRESS RELEASE
New Delhi, 16th May 2008

Today Chief Minister of Delhi Shiela Dixit has expressed her inability to ensure minimum basic requirement of life to the people of this city saying only God can solve the misery of people of this city. Smt Dixit has went on record (NDTV has clippings) saying that water crisis of the city can end only if God give us one more river in the city.

"Youth for Justice" condemns this irresponsible statement by her and we held her administration responsible for the current crisis situation.

On one hand Smt. Dixit is praying God to provide us with one more river and on other one just need to have a look at the current state of river Yamuna and one can imagine where it is in Govt.'s priority list.

On one hand CM's statement makes it clear that city's water security completely depends on the only river in the city i.e. Yamuna. and on other Govt is not only aiming to commercialise the complete flood plain but has already concretized the biggest underground water reservoir available to us as river bed of Yamuna. Open destruction of Yamuna flood plain which recharges the ground water for the city has become the order of the day. It clearly validates our fear of Delhi becoming "water stressed" in near future.

Rs. 1400 crores has washed through the drains in name of Yamuna Action Plan I and II. Nobody is made accountable for that. Why is she praying for another river? so that another 1400 crores can be washed away!!!

Her statement of today becomes more important as it makes clear that Govt. has no water available to meet the present water need of the city. We thus questions the planning of further expansion of the city ( Govt. has planned 5 more mega cities, several hotels, malls etc. in coming years). Where the water for all these new resource intensive structures will come from?

Smt. Dixit is a well educated, experienced politician and at this point in time we appeal to her conscience. She should take some time out to reflect on current water crisis and her inability to meet minimum basic requirement of life i.e. quality drinking water to all. We request her to do a self analysis and decide whether she still has mandate to continue as Chief Minister of this City.

Here we would also like to add that this City still has sufficient water resources to meet existing water demand on its own, only thing required is to preserve, conserve and maintain all these natural sources in their natural form. Yamuna river and Ridge area has sufficient water for the city if used wisely. we need to conserve these resources, to stop any encroachments ( both private and Govt.) on the same and to free these from all such existing encroachments. We appeal all to save Yamuna. remember If RIVER DIES, WE DIE!!

- YOUTH FOR JUSTICE

YOUR INVITATION (REGISTRATION FREE)

2008-05-14T23:20:00.003+05:30

You are invited

An experience of a lifetime

A Bike Rally along the river Yamuna

"SAVE THE YAMUNA"

The river is our lifeline - The River Dies, U die

"कुतुब से ताज

एक ही आवाज़"

"Qutab se Taj Tak"

A Bike Rally along the river Yamuna.

From Qutab Minar, Delhi to the Taj Mahal, Agra.

10 days

5th JUNE 2008 - 15th JUNE 2008

An experience of a lifetime.

An urgent cause.

You've always needed the river.

Now the river needs you.

Registration Free for First 20 Participants

( Registration includes food, stay, fuel and first aid)

For Details contact:

"Youth for Justice"

9818066041, 9990200243

9311356001, 9868853277

youth4justice@gmail.com

YOU ARE INVITED

2008-04-25T00:59:00.003+05:30

DEATHS IN GAMES VILLAGE CONFIRMED!!!

2008-04-04T19:45:00.003+05:30

Games Village or Death Factory?

2008-04-04T19:34:00.002+05:30

COMMONWEALTH GAMES VILLAGE or DEATH FACTORY?

special investigation by The Sunday Indian

Deaths in games village- RTI HEARING ON 27th March

2008-03-26T22:29:00.001+05:30

HEARING ON RTI AGAINST D.D.A. REGARDING DEATHS IN GAMES VILLAGE IS SHEDULED ON 27th March 2008 AT 10:30am AT C.I.C. OFFICE, ROOM NO.306, AUGUST KRANTI BHAVAN BUILDING, R.K.PURAM.

2008-03-24T08:24:00.002+05:30

236 DAYS OF YAMUNA SATYAGRAHA

23rd March 2008

As announced earlier, Yamuna Satyagrah observed its 234, 235 and 236th day as Holika Dahan, Holi Milan and (World Water Day and Shahidi Divas) respectively.

While those of you who watch Dilli Aaj Tak may have seen the Holika Dahan Coverage on TV, around 150 people including college students (Youth For Justice), local villagers and Yamuna Satyagrahis led by Rajendra Bhai consigned the effigies of Yamuna Encroachers, Polluters and despoilers (DDA, DMRC and Govt of Delhi) to flames over a pyre made of cattle dung cakes only (It was also the World Forestry Day on 21 March 2008). Holi Milan was observed in a festive spirit on 22.3.08 at the Satyagrah Sthal with lots of gaity, gulal and 'herbal' paint (in the words of Kamakhya, the Yamuna film maker), which actually turned out to be hard to remove black grease ! But all in fun and frolic. Prof Vikram Soni joined the group towards late in the evening. Today (23.3.08) a large group met again at the Satyagrah Sthal early in the forenoon, when a Havan homage to 'water' as well as to the 'martyres' (It being the Martyres Day too) was organised.

Copy of a letter (received by Rajendra Bhai) from Hon'ble CM of Delhi sent to Sri Somnath Chatterjee, Speaker Lok Sabha became a subject matter of intense discussion and animated discourse on account of deliberate falsehood reiterated by the CM in her letter justifying the construction of Games Village in the river bed on the grounds that Akshardham stands there and that MOEF after detailed investigations gave three clearance letters for it. (Why were 3 clearance letters needed if all was in order and proper, is something which clearly she has chosen to ignore in her letter?). It was agreed that it matters little as to how many people (Delhites) actually participate actively in the Satyagrah as long as the endeavour for achieving the truth for river Yamuna remains the goal.

The Yamuna Satyagrah marches on....

IS THERE ANYONE LISTENING?

2008-03-16T00:23:00.004+05:30

SINCE LAST 15 DAYS WE ARE TELLING THE WORLD THAT SCORES OF LABOURERS HAVE DIED INSIDE THE GAMES VILLAGE, WE DO HAVE VIDEOS INDACATING THE SAME.....STILL NO RESPONSE FROM AUTHORITIES.

NEWS IN CHINA POST

HUNGER STRIKE BY "YOUTH FOR JUSTICE" AGAINST DEATHS IN GAMES VILLAGE

2008-03-12T08:43:00.004+05:30

DAY LONG PROTEST AND HUNGER STRIKE BY “YOUTH FOR JUSTICE” AGAINST DEATHS IN GAMES VILLAGE AND INHUMAN TREATMENT WITH LABOURERS
9th March2008, New Delhi

Today a group of students and professionals sat on a hunger strike in front of Games Village protesting against deaths in the construction site of Games Village. There are talks of deaths inside games village since last one month and recently some investigations by Youth for Justice revealed that living conditions inside the campus are pathetic which were later proved by one of the national news paper and death of one of the labourer “Shyamal” also got confirmed.
These reports and investigation leads to serious doubt that more than 30 people have died inside the campus.
“Youth for Justice” has conducted an investigation into the matter and have interviewed some of the relatives of labourers who died inside the games village, YFJ have also interviewed some labourers who have left the job because of the deaths, have interviewed some of the labourers who are still working inside and who themselves have seen some dead bodies, have interviewed some of the local residents who have interacted with labourers and who have information on the situation inside. As nobody was allowed to enter the campus, this was the only source of information that we had.
All these facts are indicating towards the fact that labourers are living in an inhuman and pathetic condition inside the campus causing deadly disease leading to deaths of these poor migrant labourers. Saddest part of incident is that both the Govt. and contractor are hiding the facts and are trying to cover up the case.
YFJ has very strong reasons to believe that everything is not alright inside the four walls of this construction site and we strongly demand an immediate independent enquiry into the matter.
We also believe that life, liberty and dignity of these labourers are of equal importance and we demand that it should be maintained and respected. Clean, hygienic working and living environment, proper treatment and medical care, compensation etc. are basic rights of any labourer and that should be protected at all cost.
We also demand that a comprehensive list of all those who have died or who have attacked by the deadly virus should be made public.

We also demand that guilty contractor should be booked under the law.
This is our first step and in absence of any immediate action by the authority, we will intensify our protest.

also visit:

http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/uncategorized/ngos-ask-dikshit-to-look-into-games-village-workers-plight_10026412.html

2008-03-08T14:39:00.003+05:30

ANOTHER WITNESS OF DEATHS

GAMES VILLAGE

"YOUTH FOR JUSTICE" INDEPENDENT INVESTIGATION IS ON

ONE PERSON FROM PURNIA DISTRICT OF BIHAR DIED INSIDE GAMES VILLAGE 15 DAYS AGO

WATCH THE FOLLOWING VIDEO:

JOIN US THIS SUNDAY 9TH MARCH 2008 AT 8:00 AM ONWARDS FOR A DAY LONG PROTEST AND HUNGER STRIKE AGAINST DEATHS IN GAMES VILLAGE.

ON NH24 NEAR AKSHARDHAM TEMPLE, GAMES VILAGE SITE MAIN GATE

DEAD BODY OF SHYAMAL

LATEST UPDATE

2008-03-07T15:27:00.001+05:30

Following the report by "Youth for Justice" Eminent journalist and diplomat Sri Kuldip Nayar and Magsaysay awardee social activist Arvind Kejriwal have joined local villagers in petitioning the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) against the appalling living conditions of labourers at the impugned site for the Commonwealth Games Village in the river bed which has resulted in spread of meningitis amongst the latter resulting in deaths ofmany of them. The complaint to the NHRC was delivered this morning for urgent inquiry and action in the matter against all relevant authorities including the DDA, MCD, Labour Commissioner and the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MOEF) which have failed to ensure that the living conditions of labour at the site is hygeinic and secure.

OPEN SECRET OF GAMES VILLAGE

2008-03-05T11:49:00.021+05:30

SCORES OF LABOURS FEARED DIED IN

GAMES VILLAGE?

LIVING CONDITIONS ARE PATHETIC, CAUSING SPREAD OF DEADLY VIRUS: LABOURS

HUNDREDS OF LABOURS HAVE LEFT THE JOB

PROJECT UNDER ANOTHER SEVERE CRISIS

TWO DEATHS CONFIRMED THROUGH THESE INTERVIEWS

YFJ Exclusive

Interviews with labours working in games village confirming deaths of labours due to deadly diesease and accidents.

Interviews with labours who have left the work due to fear of death and untimely payment by contractor

Interview with relative of one of the labour "shyamal" who died because of the disease

death certificate of "shyamal" confirming the death due to meningitis

After Hindustan Times broke the news on 4th march about whisper of death at games village site, "Youth for Justice" decided to further investigate the issue.WE HAVE IMMEDIATELY FORMED A THREE MEMBER COMMITTEE TO LOOK INTO THE MATTER.

we have spent last 36 hours interacting with labours, trying to find out facts. it was never easy as most of the labours are inside the campus and nobody is allowed to get into the campus. security guards are trying their level best to keep everyone away from the campus. we went to games village site and tried to interact with labours and other workers. the kind of secrecy that is being maintained at the site definately makes it appear as if it is not site for games village but of some nuclear plant.

We interviwed some of the labours who are living near the site and who have left the work inside games vallige because of the outbreak of some deadly diesease inside the fortitfied campus. many of the labours have left the work and we have also interviewed two labours who are still working inside.

what these labours have told us is horrifying and unbelievable, and we decided to share it woth all.

we have decided to put all the information that we have collected on our blog.

our investigation is still on and we will keep on updating the blog time to time.

Here we are putting the information that we have received as it is.

VIDEO OF INTERVIEW WITH LABOUR WORKING INSIDE GAMES VILLAGE , HE HIMSELF HAS SEEN ONE DEADBODY AND HAVE HEARD OF ATLEAST 20 DEATHS IN LAST TWO MONTHS

INTERVIEW WITH ONE OF THE RELATIVE OF "SHYAMAL" WHO DIED DUE TO MENINGINTIS OUTBREAK IN THE CAMPUS AND HE HAS HEARD OF SCORS OF DEATHS INSIDE THE CAMPUS

DEATH CERTIFICATE OF "SHYAMAL" IS ALSO AVAILABLE WITH "YOUTH FOR JUSTICE"

death ceritificate of "shyamal" clearly mention the cause of death

interview with sister of "shyamal" labour who died due to meningitis

Interview with another labour who works in the games village, HERE HE SHARES THAT LABOURS HAVE EVEN GONE FOR A STRIKE AGAINST DEATHS OF THEIR CO-WORKERS

Interview with some labours who ahve left the work due to fear of deaths

R.T.I. FILED BY SHRI DIWAN SINGH JI TO D.D.A.

"YOUTH FOR JUSTICE" TEAM IS INVESTIGATING THE ISSUE FURTHER AND WE WILL KEEP UPDATING OUR BLOG AND WE WILL KEEP SHARING WHATEVER INFORMATION WE GET.

SOME MORE PICTURES AND VIDEOS WOULD BE ADDED IN FEW HOURS.

YOU ARE REQUESTED TO SPREAD THE NEWS TO AS MANY PEOPLE AS YOU CAN. YOU CAN USE THE INFORMATION PROVIDED HERE IF YOU MENTION THE ORIGINAL SOURCE.

Whispers of Death at 2010 Games hub

2008-03-05T10:04:00.004+05:30

Whispers of death at 2010 Games hub
(Hindustan Times 04-03-08)
Avishek G Dastidar and Vidya Krishnan, Hindustan Times
Email Author
New Delhi, March 04, 2008
The construction site of the Commonwealth Games Village on the Yamuna riverbed has been hit by an outbreak of a deadly brain fever. There is talk of deaths and panic, and frightened workers want to leave for home.Appalling hygiene at Village construction site; brain fever time-bomb ticks.“Nine workers from the construction site have come to us with meningitis in the past 10 days,” said Dr V.R. Sood, Medical Superintendent at Bimla Devi Hospital in Mayur Vihar II, the closest health centre. “So many cases from a single, enclosed space is worrying.”This year, Delhi has had 109 cases of meningitis — from all across the city, with a population of over 1.25 crore; and 13 deaths.Most workers are from Bihar and UP and live in cramped and unhygienic quarters at the construction site. Meningitis bacteria travels through air riding tiny, invisible droplets on exhaled breath. “An overcrowded, unhygienic and enclosed area fuels the outbreak,” said Dr Bir Singh, professor of community medicine at AIIMS. Infection follows high fever, which can turn fatal if not treated aggressively.Rintu, a worker from Malda, Bengal, told Hindustan Times, “The fever is spreading fast inside the camp. People are falling unconscious. We are scared.” Sheesh Mohammad, a worker from Bihar, said: “Doctors at the camp are giving medicine for simple fever. But this doesn’t look like a simple disease.”Panic on Yamuna bank, labourers fleeing ‘curse of angry river’Some workers even attributed the outbreak to a curse. “Jamnaji bali maang rahi hain (The river is seeking sacrifice),” said Shankar, a worker from Bihar.Workers claimed people have died and even named some victims, but HT was unable to verify them independently with the neighbourhood hospital or MCD.The MCD sent its officials to inspect the site, which happened in the presence of HT reporters. The officials picked up blood samples for testing, but they were certain of the outbreak. “After inspection, all inhabitants of the camp were given 500 mg of ciprafloxacin as a antidote for meningococcemia,” said Dr V.K. Monga, chairman of the health committee, MCD.The corporation suspects the construction site has been hit by meningococcemia, which has been reported from other parts of the city as well. Meningococcemia is a strain of meningitis and can also be fatal.The company denied the outbreak. “Our officials at the site tell us that all the claims of outbreak, deaths and poor living conditions are false,” said Anupama Chopra, a spokesperson for the Emaar-MGF, which is developing the project.But the corporation found living conditions unhygienic. “Sanitation facilities for the workers are inadequate. We have asked them to improve the conditions at the camp,” said Dr Monga.

30 DEATHS INSIDE GAMES VILLAGE IN DELHI

2008-03-01T22:13:00.004+05:30

ITS URGENT (SAT. 1st MARCH 2008)

we have this information from labours working inside games village and soon we will provide videos and other documents of our interviews with these labours.

30 LABOURS HAVE DIED INSIDE UPCOMING GAMES VILLAGE IN LAST 10 DAYS

DEATHS HAVE TAKEN PLACE UNDER MYSTERIOUS CONDITIONS

LABOURS HAVE STARTED MIGRATING FROM FROM THE SITE

GAMES VILLAGE PROJECT FACING HUGE CRISIS

YAMUNA : THE REAL CAUSE

2008-02-29T15:37:00.001+05:30

WHY ARE WE FIGHTING FOR YAMUNA?

A) RIVER YAMUNA AN IMPORTANT NATURAL RESOURCE THREATENED BY CONTINUOUS ENCROACHMENT ON ITS FLOOD PLAIN AND RIVER BED

It is well known that river Yamuna is the Life line of the city of Delhi. Its protection and preservation of its flood plain and river bed is critical for it to continue to meet the water needs and safety from floods, of the citizens of Delhi. Unfortunately encroachments over the flood plains / river bed continue to threaten the river and its ability to meet the needs of the growing population in the city.

- River Yamuna in existence for almost 50 million years is today critically threatened by acts of omission and commission by the state authorities.

- Flood plains are essential to ensure ground water recharge on an annual basis.

- Expert as well as MOEF and DUAC reports / observations have highlighted the importance of the river and ecological value of its flood plains and recommended the flood plain / river bed to be kept inviolate as under:

“The conservation of rivers requires that they are treated as ecosystems and their ecological integrity (physical, hydrological, chemical, and biological characteristics and natural functions) is maintained. All rivers interact laterally with adjacent lands (floodplains) that are periodically flooded by the river with varying frequency and amplitude. Floodplains are an integral part of river ecosystems and perform several major functions.” (MOEF document Para 1 on page 145 of the Petition).

“Wetlands have been called as ‘kidney’ of the landscape. The role of this ecosystem through its diverse and multiple functions becomes crucial if it is in the vicinity of a metropolitan congested city like Delhi.” (Line 6 – 9, Page 101 of the Petition)

“These biologically productive areas are most threatened and are being converted for habitation, slums and industries. This is being done because of the fact that ecological functions of the floodplains remain unacknowledged, unaccounted and unpriced.” (Line 13-16, Page 101 of the Petition).

“ to maintain the ground water recharge potential of the floodplains, it is imperative to prevent any fresh civic structures to come up in these areas. This is necessary because fresh ground water resources present in the floodplain and connected aquifers in the city are replenished annually due to the floodplains. Water is already a scarce commodity and in coming years it is going to be more scarce and precious. Any human activity impairing the water recharge function of the floodplain ecosystem will create problems not only for the present but future generation too.” (Para 2 on Page 116 of the Petition).

“Channelisation of the river in the Delhi stretch should not be carried out. Channelisation will not only lead to reduction of ground water reserve, it will completely stop the ground water recharge that occurs from the flood plains.” (Para 3 on Page 116 of the Petition).

- Flood plains are essential to ensure safe spread and passage of flood waters

“The vast changes in the ground situation since the last high flood of 1978 have many serious adverse implications for Delhi. It has been observed in recent years that the water levels at Delhi for lesser magnitudes of flow are higher than in the past. The next high flood in the Yamuna could have very serious consequences for the nation’s capital area.” (Para 3 on Page 201 of the Petition)

“There is significant intrusion in the river bed and flood plain much of which seems politically organized and government condoned. This impermissible occupation is constantly on the increase. There are even some government schemes of this nature. The DDA plan for channelisation of the Yamuna and commercial use of the reclaimed area should be viewed in this context.” (Para 2 on Page 202 of the Petition)

- Flood plains being on unstable substrata are not suitable for any construction of permanent nature

“The Delhi region is considered earthquake prone and has been hit by several earthquakes since historical times.” (Para 7 0n Page 224 of the Petition)

“The CWG village sits over an unstable base of deep sediment layer. The first relatively stable layer of consolidated clay begins at 40 m below ground level (BGL), while bedrock begins at depths around 100 m BGL. The site invariably lies in the most seismically vulnerable part with the highest peak ground acceleration expected in the city.” (Para 3 of Page 219 of the Petition)

B) NATURE OF ENCROACHMENTS

- DMRC is constructing the polluting Yamuna Metro Depot and allied structures in Sub Zone 05 and the Metro Mall in Sub Zone 06.

- DDA is constructing the Residential Complex and allied structures in the name of Games Village in Sub Zone 06.

C) RIVER YAMUNA FLOOD PLAINS HAVE BEEN NOTIFIED AS PROTECTED FOR GROUND WATER RESOURCE BY THE CENTRAL GROUND WATER AUTHORITY (CGWA)

The CGWA, a statutory authority created under the Environment Protection Act, 1986 by the MOEF in pursuance of the orders of the Hon’ble Supreme Court has notified in September 2000 the entire Yamuna Flood plain in Delhi as protected for ground water management and development.

“considering the need for protecting the ground water resource and to ensure further development activities in consistence with protection and preservation of the ground water resource hereby declare the entire Yamuna flood plain area in the National Capital Territory of Delhi as “Notified Area” …

No person/organisation/ agency (Govt. or non Govt.) shall undertake any scheme / project of ground water development and management in the above said region without prior permission of the Authority.” (Para 4, 5 on Page 119 of the Petition)

a) No permission from CGWA has been taken by the DDA or DMRC for their construction activities including drilling of new Ranney well for the Games Village by the DDA (Page 7 of Petitioner’s Rejoinder dated 19.11.2007 to the reply filed by DDA).
b) It is on record that DJB is to build a new Ranney well in the area for supply of water to the proposed Games Village (para iii at Page 187 of the Petition) which would be illegal without a prior approval of the CGWA. So contention of the DDA in their affidavit that “it is denied that there is any development in violation of legal and constitutional protection accorded to the river bed” is wrong, illegal and misleading. (para M at page 38 of the reply Affidavit by DDA)
c) Contention of the MOEF in their affidavit that “In any event, to the best of knowledge of MOEF, no permission from CGWA is required with respect to this site” (Para 33 on Page 35 of MOEF Affidavit dated 16.11.2007) betrays a serious lack of information of a statutory requirement and is symptomatic of the callous attitude of the MOEF shown in such important matter.

D) WATER DEMAND AND SUPPLY SITUATION IN DELHI

The water demand and supply situation in Delhi is grim to say the least. And the situation is going from bad to worse with the rise in population in the city. The remaining flood plain in the city is the only insurance for sustained supplies extracted from the under ground.

“It is known that the DJB extracts 100 MGD (million gallons per day) from the under ground to supply to the city” (Para 3 on Page 1.12 of NEERI 2005 report)

“Yamuna flood plain in NCT of Delhi can provide 200 MGD through 1000 shallow tube wells” (Fig. 3.14 on Page 3.96 of NEERI 2005 report)

According to an estimate of water budget for NCT – Delhi (page 17,18 of the Petition):

Year / Population
2006 / 16.5 mill
2011 / 19.0 mill
2021 / 23.0 mill
Demand (1000 cmd)
4935
6038
8868
Supply (1000 cmd)
3827
4008
4008
GAP (1000 cmd)
1108
2030
4860

The gap between demand and supply is not only going to increase but the supply situation will be awfully short.

E) NEERI REPORT OF 1999

National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI), Nagpur was commissioned a study by the DDA to prepare an ‘Environmental Management Plan’ with an over all objective of the rejuvenation of the river Yamuna in NCT of Delhi in August 1998. (Para 5 on Page 1 of NEERI 1999)

- NEERI submitted its initial report (Phase I report) limited to Sub Zone 06 and 07 (3 km stretch between new railway bridge and proposed ILFS-NOIDA bridge) of the river in June 1999.
- It delineated ‘Guidelines for Development’ in the flood plains of 3 km stretch as above and permitted only recreational, cultural, heritage, religious and aesthetic requirements of NCT - Delhi. (Para 4 on Page 12 of the NEERI 1999 report).
- NEERI 1999 suggested two alternative land use plans. After discussions Alternative II was agreed (Last Para on Page 14 of NEERI 1999 report)
- Alternative II dealt with modified landuse for an area of around 83 ha in Pocket III in the flood plains in the Eastern bank in sub Zone 06. (Table 3 page 19 of NEERI 1999)
- For ground water recharge, the NEERI 1999 report suggested that the suggested green belt, recreational areas and ‘camping site’ (16.5 ha) (Index no.13 in Table 3 page 19 of NEERI 1999 report) should not alter the topography of the flood plain and the water detention and retention systems be improved to improve the groundwater recharge. (Page 21). It is notable that the current plans of DDA are to convert the identified camping site into residential and commercial complex.
- The practice of fly ash disposal on the flood plain area should be stopped immediately. (Para 7 on Page 20 of NEERI 1999 report). DMRC is acting contrary to this guideline.
- Alternative II meticulously follows Precautionary approach considering the sensitiveness of the task and fragility of the region. (Para 3 of Page 22 of NEERI 1999 report).
- It is a fact that in 1999 the provisions of EIA (Environmental Impact Assessment) Notification 1994 of MOEF were not attracted as mentioned (Last Para on Page 22 of NEERI 1999 report). But the fact is that in 2004 the EIA Notification was amended and hence since 2004 the nature of the constructions planned by DDA in the river bed attracts the provisions of the said Notification which mandates a prior EC (Environmental Clearance) from MOEF to all such new constrictions.
- The Expert Appraisal Committee (EAC) of the MOEF while appraising the proposal from DDA for the Games Village noted the recommendations of the NEERI 1999 report and said that “Specifically NEERI recommended permitting proposals for meeting recreational, cultural, heritage, religious and aesthetic requirements. The proposed hotel and residences are not covered by these recommendations.” (Para 3 of Page 169 of the Petition).
- It is notable from above that the NEERI 2005 report which had been submitted to DDA in October 2005 had clearly not been provided to the MOEF by the DDA along with its proposal, submitted almost a year later on 5.10.2006 (Line 2 on Page 167 of the Petition), for seeking prior EC from the MOEF. (This is a case of concealment of ‘material information’ by the DDA from the MOEF making all the clearances liable for rejection vide para vi of para 8 of the EIA Notification dated 14 September 2006 – See page 84 and 85 of DMRC reply dated 22.10.2007).

F) NEERI REPORT OF 2005

NEERI submitted to DDA its final report called ‘Environmental Management Plan for Rejuvenation of River Yamuna in NCT’ in October 2005.

- The active flood plain area in NCT covers an area of 97 sq km. (Last Para on Page 1.3 of NEERI 2005 report). Active flood plain and Flood prone areas have been defined on Para 1 and 2 on Page 1.4.

- Fig. 1.8 a, on Page 1.65 shows the Active / present flood plain in Delhi.

- NEERI considered the CWPRS proposal on river channelisation to be non-viable. (Para 3 on Page 2 of NEERI 2005)
- The Basic purpose of the river bed is concerned with providing safe passage of anticipated maximum flood flows. (Para 4 on Page 2 of NEERI 2005).
- The plains of river Yamuna have experienced severe floods in the years of 1924, 1947, 1956, 1978, 1988, and 1995. The Yamuna crossed its danger level 25 times during the last 33 years (Para 4 on Page 3.7 of NEERI 2005)
- Since hydrodynamic studies showed the carrying capacity of the river in NCT is just adequate for 100 years return flood, encroachment and alteration of the river bed topography must be restricted to avoid catastrophic consequences in future. (Para 5 of Page 3 of NEERI 2005 report).
- Alteration of bed topography can change the hydrodynamics of the river to cause excessive flooding of the river bed and the adjoining areas. The effect may be treated as most serious. (Detailed Landuse Image Analysis on Page 1.21 and 1.22 of NEERI 2005 report).
- Observation in Para 2 on Page 1.22 and related picture in Fig. 1.29 and 1.36 on Page 1.81 and 1.87 show the fact that NEERI was fully in the know of both the new bund in Sub Zone 06 and the then under construction Akshardham complex. Clearly the contention of NEERI on Page in its ‘Assessment Report’ of 2008 that it was not aware of and had not taken into consideration the new bund in Sub Zone 06 while formulating its recommendations for the 2005 is a lie spoken under pressure.
- Page 1.9, page 1.12, page 1.14, page 1.37 (Table 1.15), page 1.38 (Table 1.16), page 1.40 (Table 1.18), page 1.42 (Table 1.20), page 1.43 (Table 1.21), Table 1.16 (page 1.38), Table 1.20 (page 1.42) carries data which is for a period post 2000. All the google images from page 1.81 – 1.93 are from the year 2005. Clearly NEERI has considered and analysed data and images from the period later than 2000 before it finalized and submitted its report in 2005.
- It is notable that only 0.02% of open land was remaining in river bed in the city area in September 1988 floods. (Fig. 1.18 on Page 1.75 of NEERI 2005 report).
- The river must have the required width for a maximum historical flow because its slope cannot be changed in order to take out floodwater and surface runoff from the area without the risk of inundating the developed localities. Therefore the natural floodway must be respected. (Para 1 and 3 on Page 3.2 of NEERI 2005 report)
- Unless the channel dredging and subsequent dressing of river bed as proposed in the study is followed, no modification of topography should be permitted. (Para 1 on Page 3.33 under General Guidelines of NEERI 2005 report). Both DDA and DMRC are acting contrary to this guideline.
- The developmental proposals for sub zones 05 and 06 did not permit any residential, industrial or commercial use. (Para 7 on Page 3.29 and Para 4 on Page 3.30 of NEERI 2005 report). Both DDA and DMRC are acting contrary to these proposals.
- The stretch has substantially lost its carrying capacity due to long term silting. The present width of the river is desirable to maintain for conveying maximum flow to avoid flooding of adjoining flood plains (Para 3 on Page 3.32 of NEERI 2005 report).
- No residential or industrial facilities requiring permanent structures should be provided on the river bed. (Para 4 on Page 3.33 of NEERI 2005 report). Both DDA and DMRC are acting contrary to this guideline.
- Access roads shall be created at the river bed level. (Para 5 on Page 3.33 of NEERI 2005 report). Both DDA and DMRC are acting contrary to this guideline.

G) MALAFIDE CHOICE WITHOUT LOOKING FOR ALTERNATIVE SITES AND MANDATORY APPROVALS OF SITE IN RIVER BED / FLOOD PLAIN BY DDA AND DMRC FOR CONSTRUCTIONS

After the NEERI 2005 report had clearly prohibited any permanent structures of residential and industrial nature in the river bed, it was wrong for the DDA to persist with a choice of area in river bed / flood plain for the Games Village, no matter what kind of structure was already standing in the same. Two wrongs do not make a right.

It is on record that DDA did not consider any other alternate site for the Games Village which proves the malafide in favour of the site in the river bed. (Para 1 on Page 169 of the Petition)

The risks involved with urbanization of the river belt had been highlighted and objected to by DUAC (Delhi Urban Arts Commission), which is a statutory body, way back in 1997 in response to a Public Notice by the DDA for changing the land use of 35 ha area (this is the area under consideration by this petition) in river Yamuna:

“The urbanization of the river belt it is observed would have serious repercussions on the ecology and environment of Delhi including its metropolitan areas in question. The area in question forms the natural flood plain basin of river Yamuna and no attempt should be made in an adhoc manner to change its use on a piecemeal basis. Any such proposal is likely to create major imbalance of the entire ecology of the water shed wet land and would adversely affect the underground aquifer.” (Para 2 on Page 78 / 488 of the counter affidavit by DDA)

Change in land use of 16.5 ha in Sub Zone 06 from agriculture and water body to Residential and Commercial carried out on 18 August 2006 (Page 110 of the DDA reply) is malafide as NEERI had in October 2005 recommended against it. The area in question had been earmarked only for ‘Camping site’.

On the same grounds the permanent allotment of land by DDA in river bed to DMRC in January 2006 (Page 21 of DMRC reply dated 22.10.2007) much after the receipt of NEERI 2005 is malafide.

It is on record that DDA has no approval from Yamuna Standing Committee of the Central Water Commission for the construction of the Games Village and allied structures in the river bed, which is a mandatory requirement. (Para 3 on Page 6 of the Petitioner’s rejoinder dated 19.11.2007 to DDA reply)

DDA has no approval from the CGWA for the construction of Games Village and allied structures, which is a statutory requirement. (Para 2 of Page 7 of the Petitioner’s rejoinder dated 19.11.2007 to DDA reply)

H) ILLEGAL AND INVALID ENVIRONMENTAL CLEARANCE BY MOEF TO DDA FOR THE SITE IN RIVER BED

Environmental Clearance (EC) from the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MOEF) is mandatory under the EIA Notification of 2006 for all such new constructions that are listed in the Schedule. ‘Building and Construction projects’ find a mention (Page 95 of DMRC reply)

MOEF has constituted independent Experts Committees called the Expert Appraisal Committee (EAC) to review all proposals for EC in accordance with para 5 of the EIA Notification of 2006. (Para 5 at Page 80 of DMRC reply)

It is stipulated that the regulatory authority shall normally accept the recommendations of the EAC. In the event of a disagreement there is a laid out process of consultation between the EAC and the Regulatory authority. (Para 8 (ii) of the EIA Notification)

It is stipulated that any deliberate concealment of material information for appraisal shall make the application liable for rejection and cancellation of prior EC following a due process (Para 8 (vi) on Page 85 of DMRC reply)

The EAC in the case of Games Village first recommended a change in the site. (Para 4 on Page 168 of the Petition)

The EAC on finding that definite information was lacking on several issues recommended a fresh study with a set terms of reference (Para 5 on Page 168 of Petition). It is notable that the study done by CWPRS in February 2007 addressed and that too in a deficient manner (Page 179 under sub head ‘our comments’ by MOEF in the Petition) only one aspect of the suggested study.

The NEERI 2005 report was material to the appraisal of the DDA’s application by the EAC. The fact that the EAC refers only to the NEERI 1999 report (Para 3 on Page 169 of the Petition) points to deliberate concealment of NEERI 2005 report by DDA from MOEF and EAC. If NEERI 2005 was available to the EAC, the rejection of the application and insistence on selection of an alternative site would have been automatic and logical. Then even the use of Precautionary Principle by the EAC as under would not have become necessary.

The EAC going by ‘Precautionary Principle’ suggested that adopt dismantable structures, unless detailed studies lead to the conclusion that the proposed structures can be left behind permanently, the proposal should proceed with the assumption that the river bed may have to be restored to the river (Para 2 on Page 170 of the Petition). NEERI 2005 report was in fact such a detailed study which had been with held from the EAC by the DDA. The CWPRS study of February 2007 which had been commissioned by the DDA on a limited aspect of flooding to meet the EAC concern of lack of definite information on several aspects. By no stretch of imagination could this limited study by CWPRS of February 2007 be treated as ‘detailed studies’ as called for by the EAC.

The MOEF accordingly issued the first EC dated 14 December 2006 suggesting raising of structures which are not of permanent nature (Point vi on Page 187 of the Petition)

The CWPRS study of February 2007 was commissioned by DDA on the recommendations of the EAC. MOEF changed and diluted the EC based on this report to allow permanent constructions in the river bed. There is nothing on record to suggest that the CWPRS report was ever referred back to the EAC by the MOEF for appraisal as required by para b (ii) of EIA Notification on Page 84 of the DMRC reply. The entire dilution of the EC after 14 December 2006 is based on several meetings and consultations between the officials of the MOEF and DDA during which on three separate occasions the DDA served ultimatums on the MOEF (Page 172 to 185 of the Petition).

I ) MOTIVATED AND MISLEADING REPORT CALLED ASSESSMENT REPORT BY NEERI IN 2008

A site visit was made by the Hon’ble Court on 3 January 2008.

Consequently the Ministry of Science and Technology (NEERI is an agency under it) and the DDA met NEERI on 9 January 2008 to pressurize NEERI to prepare and present a new report called the Assessment Report on 24 January 2008 to mislead and misinform the Hon’ble Court. (Petitioner’s rejoinder dated 8.2.2008 to the affidavit by DDA dated 29.1.2008).

J ) CREATION OF BUND CANNOT CHANGE THE BASIC CHARACTER AND ROLE OF A FLOOD PLAIN

It is well known that a flood plain is a feature of the natural topography of the land and the manner in which the river has flowed over centuries. So a man made structure like a bund cannot change the basic character or role of a flood plain. (Note by Prof. Brij Gopal of JNU on page 20 – 22 of the Petitioner’s Rejoinder dated 8.2.2008)

This fact was also upheld by the Yamuna Standing Committee in a similar case in the past. (Page 32 of DMRC reply dated 22.10.2007)

K ) ACTIVITIES OF DDA AND DMRC IN VIOLATION OF PREVIOUS ORDERS ISSUED BY THE HONORABLE COURTS

The activities of DDA and DMRC are violative of various Court orders.

L ) FALSE AND MISLEADING STATEMENTS BY MOEF AND DDA

The rejoinder Affidavits filed by DDA and MOEF to the petition abound in false and misleading statements. Some examples as under would suffice:

“No other suitable site available is available for locating the CWG village” (Page 2 F of DDA rejoinder). “It is denied that the site was chosen in an arbitrary manner without considering any alternative” (Para 6.2 on page 32 of DDA rejoinder to the Petition). The fact is that DDA never ever bothered to look for an alternative site and rejected even MOEF suggestion in the matter. The DDA has not produced any document during the hearing of the case to support its contention in the matter.

“There is no loss of recharge of ground water”. (Line 22 on page 28 of DDA rejoinder to the Petition) When the DDA does not even know about the extent of such a loss (Para 6 on Page 169 of the Petition) then how can it claim such a thing?

“Recommendations of NEERI have not been violated” (Line 23 on Page 28 of DDA rejoinder to the Petition). The fact is that DDA have violated the recommendations of both the NEERI 1999 report (by changing the land use from Camping site to residential and commercial of 16.5 ha of the river bed) and of NEERI 2005 report (by raising permanent residential structure in the river bed)

“As far as study by NEERI 2005 on river Yamuna is concerned it is submitted that the same has been taken into consideration at the time of planning the Commonwealth Games Village” (Para 6.1 on Page 31 of DDA rejoinder to the Petition). If this were the case then DDA would not have planned for permanent residential structures in the river bed / flood plain.

“the detailed study by CWPRS had suggested that permanent structures could be constructed and left behind” (Para 1 on page 18 of MOEF rejoinder to the Petition). Nowhere in the study has CWPRS said so. This also proves that the MOEF was oblivious of the existence of the detailed study called NEERI 2005 report.

“it is for the elected government to decide what project should be undertaken for the benefit of the people” (Para 1 on page 21 of the MOEF rejoinder to the Petition). The fact is that the Games Village is a planned real estate to be sold off after the event. So how can such a project be for the benefit of the people at large.

“Even the Central Water Commission had conveyed its approval dated 25.4.1997 for utilizing the said area for convention centers, spiritual parks and hotels etc” (Line 29, 30 of the Page 23 of the MOEF rejoinder to the Petition). Nowhere has the CWC conveyed this in the said approval.

“It is denied that there is any threat to the ecology”( Para 4 on page 28 of MOEF rejoinder). For the MOEF to make such a statement is surprising to say the least.

“The NEERI report of 2005 itself provides for construction / development activities in the said area” (Para 32 on Page 35 of MEOF Rejoinder to the Petition). Clearly the facts are contrary to the contention of the MOEF. This proves that MOEF had no access to the NEERI 2005 report.

L ) CONSTRUCTION OF AKSHARDHAM BEGAN BEFORE ENVIRONMENTAL CLEARANCE (EC) FROM MOEF BECAME MANDATORY FOR NEW CONSTRUCTIONS

It is to be noted that when Akshardham was created beginning the Year 2000, the then EIA Notification of 1994 did not cover such constructions and hence a EC by MOEF was not mandatory.

Such constructions were brought into the domain of EIA Notification only in 2004 by an amendment by the MOEF in the EIA Notification. Hence prior EC for Akshardham was not an issue before the Hon’ble SC when it decided on a petition challenging the construction of Akshardham in the river bed.

M ) VIOLATION OF DOCTRINE OF PUBLIC TRUST AND PRECAUTIONARY PRINCIPLE BY DDA AND DMRC

All state agencies and authorities have a constitutional duty (Article 14 and 21, Article 48 A) to safeguard the natural resources including rivers.

In absence of a statutory safeguard (applicable to rivers) it is the Doctrine of Public Trust and Precautionary Principle alone which can and should guide the authorities. In the present case the authorities have
clearly failed in their constitutional duties by acting contrary to the Doctrine of Public Trust.

CELEBRATING TWO YEARS OF YOUTH RISING!!!

2008-02-25T17:10:00.002+05:30

JOIN US THIS SUNDAY

2nd MARCH

AT 5:00PM

CENTRAL PARK

C.P.

WHAT ARE WE WAITING FOR?

2008-02-22T21:44:00.002+05:30

Did Yamuna water kill Chambal ghariyals?

22 Feb, 2008, 0133 hrs IST,Neha Shukla, TNN

Economic Times
LUCKNOW: This tale has all the contours of a tragedy. Consider the facts: Chambal lost over 100 ghariyals in the last 72 days to a "mysterious" toxin released, in all possibility, by its very own sanctuary — the river Yamuna.
Vets involved in the probe have confirmed that toxins caused around 103 deaths. And though the picture is still a bit hazy, they unanimously agree toxins came from either the contaminated food or the Yamuna water.
Samples of the viscera and river water were sent to laboratories like IVRI (Bareilly), DRDE in Gwalior, IITR (Lucknow) and also to labs in Bhopal, Sagar, Pune and Jabalpur.
"We would be able to comment with certainty on the cause of deaths only after we have all the reports in hand. However, the two aforementioned reasons are foremost on our minds," a wildlife expert told TOI on Wednesday.
There are worries that the toxin might have begun to affect other freshwater species and the carcass of a magar (another crocodilian species) which was fished out on Monday could be an early warning. "We can't comment on what caused the death of the magar till the post-mortem report comes," said a senior representative from the crisis management group formed in this regard.
"One leading theory here is that there could have been a one-time release of the toxin in Yamuna, which reached Chambal during monsoons with the backwaters and the effect of that toxin is showing now because it takes time for any foreign substance to get incorporated in the food chain or in the water river," said another group member.
After almost three months since 16 bodies were fished out from Barchauli village in Etawah range of National Chambal Sanctuary on December 8, it is gout which has been noted in regularity in all 103 carcasses.
The bodies show uric acid deposition in visceral organs and also in joints of animals. This point towards kidney failure and toxin, according to the findings so far, as the cause.
It is the confluence of Yamuna and Chambal, which is the affected stretch of the sanctuary between Sahson and Kheda Ajab Singh in Etawah. The sanctuary runs through three states of Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan.
Source: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Planet_SOS/Yamuna_A_ghariyal_killer/articleshow/2803411.cms

200 DAYS OF YAMUNA SATYAGRHA

2008-02-17T21:06:00.003+05:30

The Battle is ON!!!
Faculty members and students of Baba Ambedkar College joined Rajendra Bhai, Radha Behan, Bhai Babulal ji, Vijay Bhai, Kapil Mishra, Vikram Sheel and other large number of Satyagrahis and villagers in observing the 200th day of the ongoing Yamuna Satyagrah at the Satyagrah Sthal behind the Akshardham, next to the NH 24.
Radha Behan enlightened the gathering about the Satyagrah that has been launched in various parts of Uttarakhand for saving different rivers in the state. Speaker after speaker condemned the state in ignoring the plea of the Satyagrahis to not to concretise the river bed.
The day was also marked by singing of songs for the river Yamuna authored by Kapil Mishra from YOUTH FOR JUSTICE. Diwan Singh informed the gathering of the manner in which the DDA had been planning for the city under the MPD 2021 oblivious of the water needs and sources of water for the city putting the responsibility on the DJB for the same. All agreed that it was foolish on one hand to concretise the river bed and compromise the water recharge ability of the river bed and flood plain and then to plan for 5 new cities in the NCT - Delhi when the authorities were unable to meet even the present day water needs of the people. It was resolved to mobilise the students of various colleges and schools in Delhi to apprise them of the tragedy befalling the river Yamuna by the encroachments planned by the state agencies like DDA and DMRC.
A 'Yamuna Janadesh' was also resolved by the gathering to be submitted to various authorities including the Hon'ble PM, LG, CM and other authorities.
The Yamuna Satyagrah moves forward undaunted.

HAPPY REPUBLIC DAY- a must watch!!!

2008-01-26T09:38:00.000+05:30

171 DAYS OF SATYAGRAHA
click on the link below:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ncJHlTaoRdI

Nothing Green About It

2008-01-23T07:12:00.000+05:30

UPDATE ON P.I.L
22.01.08

Dear Friends,

Today we were given a patient hearing and good time by the Hon'ble Court. Sri SM Agrawal, Convenor, HC appointed Usha Mehra Committee for removal of encroachments from Yamuna has completed his submissions. On Sri Parikh's initiation we were then given time to make a power point presentation to the Hon'ble court in their Committee room for over some 30 minutes. The next date has now been fixed for 29.1.08 (Tuesday) when hopefully the submissions would conclude.

Kindly peruse an excellent article written jointly by Prof. Soni and Sri Parikh which was published recently in DNA.

DNA
Nothing green about it
Vikram Soni/Sanjay Parikh
Tuesday, January 08, 2008 09:12 IST

False notions of 'sustainable development' are blinding us to the loss of bio-diversity Language is such a powerful medium of human communication that it colours all our metaphors, beliefs and imagination. But language can also craft deception. It can wash over common sense and sensibility. This has happened in the present climate of extreme material consumption powered by the global free market. Let us see how. Today, the seductive vision of development has become so preemptive that our remaining original forests, our biodiversity treasury, are being extinguished for huge mines, dams or even real estate projects, and this is supposed to be fine provided there is 'compensatory afforestation'. This term suggests that whatever damage was done can be undone or compensated for by artificial plantation. It then seems to the unsuspecting that this is a fair trade-off for development. But it is like giving sanction to the insane notion that it is fine to kill all wild tigers as long as we replace them by farming the same population in captivity. Can valuable natural biodiversity, created by evolution, ever be equated to compensatory plantation? Yet such a subterfuge is being practiced now by the courts and the government through the now dangerous cliché of 'sustainable development'. If sustainable development of this ilk is going to finish off all our biodiversity, heritage and resources, is it admissible? 'Green buildings' are acceptable currency for eliminating valuable natural heritage. In the popular imagination, the word 'green' is so comforting that it clouds the real loss which is irreplaceable. So are terms like 'eco-tourism' and 'eco-friendly development', where the prefix 'eco' lulls the mind. Natural water resources are used up by commercial buildings for short-term needs and substituted by the magical phrase, 'water harvesting'. It is a well-kept secret that water harvesting can harvest not more than five percent of the original resource. Another notion is that poverty is itself a cause of pollution and that economic development will remove poverty and better the environment. Poverty alleviation in terms of right to shelter and right to employment is often misused to justify development at the cost of environment degradation. What about people who have no link with the global economy but live simply amidst pure unpolluted streams, pure air and forests? This is what gives their life a quality that cannot be bought, and they have been able to preserve it, as their simple lifestyle is non-invasive. But now this basic and essential resource is being whittled away by big companies that acquire large swathes of virgin land for mining or development. These people are then left mute and destitute. This indicates that appreciation of concerns for the nature requires a different mind-set: a consciousness which sees life in totality. The market economy does not address these concerns. We should learn from China. The southern part of China, Fuqing, which used to be the biggest exporter of sea-food, has suffered a setback because of contamination of all its water resources. The sea-food now carries with it the risk of cancer, liver diseases and other health problems. Japan and many European countries have imposed a ban on such contaminated imports. China is now spending US$30 billion a year in cleaning its water. Also, the mandatory Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is so notoriously manipulated that it has ceased to be effective. Instead, we should have a Nature's Rights Commission made up of concerned citizens and scientists whose integrity is above any political and monetary affiliation. There is a precedent for this. The Israeli Parliament, the Knesset, has set up the Israeli Commission for Future Generations as an inner parliamentary entity. Its charter is to safeguard valuable natural resources by overviewing each legislative process, with special regard to long-term issues, and prevent potentially damaging legislation. We need just one simple law: a public trust doctrine. These doctrines have their basis in ancient wisdom — that nature's laws impose certain conditions on human beings' relationship with nature. This relationship has to be kept in absolute trust. This is why in Roman law the concept of jus gentium, a law for all people and nations, was developed, to protect nature's irreplaceable resources. Later, this led to the public trust doctrine in the Magna Carta of the 13th century. More recently, the Water Framework Directive of the EU recognises natural water resources as a protected heritage. We urgently need this singular and uncompromising governing code if we are to safeguard nature and preserve life on the planet.

(Vikram Soni is UGC Professor, National Physical Laboratory; Sanjay Parikh is an Advocate in the Supreme Court.)

2008-01-16T21:41:00.000+05:30

Dear Friend

WE ARE GLAD TO SHARE WITH YOU THAT OUR EFFORTS AND STRUGGLE FOR YAMUNA HAVE STARTED SHOWING RESULTS

- ALL CONSTRUCTIONS INCLUDING RESIDENTIAL FLATS FOR METRO , HELIPAD, FORMULA1 ETC. HAVE BEEN STOPPED BY HON'BLE L.G. AND ARE NOW REQUIRED TO SOUGHT APPROVAL FROM Y.R.D.A.

GAMES VILLAGE IS THE ONLY EXCEPTION TO THE ORDER , BUT WE ARE QUITE HOPEFUL FROM THE PROGRESS OF PROCEDDINGS ON P.I.L.

YAMUNA SATYAGRAHA WAS STARTED FROM 1st AUGUST 2007, SINCE LAST 169 DAYS THIS MOVEMENT HAS GROWN AND SLOWLY BUT FIRMLY IT IS TURNING INTO A MASS MOVEMENT.

"YOUTH FOR JUSTICE" IS ALL GEARED UP TO TAKE THE FIGHT TO ITS LOGICAL END i.e. SAVING YAMUNA RIVER FROM LOOT AND KILLING IN THE NAME OF COMMONWEALTH GAMES.

WE INVITE YOU TO WITNESS ANOTHER HISTORY IN THE

30th JANUARY 2008

5:00 PM

CENTRAL PARK

CANNAUGHT PLACE

NEW DELHI

WATCH AND JOIN PEOPLES STRUGGLE

FOR YAMUNA WHILE IT ENTERS THE NEXT PHASE

- Youth For Justice

"WE ARE THE CHANGE WE WANT TO SEE"

9818066041, 9990200243, 9311356001, 9868853277

UPDATE ON P.I.L.- 08-01-08

2008-01-10T22:03:00.000+05:30

If today's proceeding in the court is any indication then it seems that the day of reckoning for the DDA as well as the MOEF is not far off. Today it was the turn of Sri S M Agrawal, the Convenor of the HC appointed Committee called the Usha Mehra Committee for the removal of encroachments from the river, to make his submissions before the bench. (Kindly recall Usha Mehra Committee's Report to the court posted before on this list in the matter). Today was also the first day of hearing after the Hon'ble Judges had made an on the site inspection of the site on 3.1.08 Sri Agrawal, using various documents and most importantly reading out excerpts from previous judgements of SC as well as HC very lucidly established the fact that the DDA had acted against the doctrine of public trust and in violation of various court orders in planning and constructing a residential complex in the garb of the Games Village in the river bed as well as selling the river bed to the DMRC for a Depot, a Yard, residential complex, stations and a Metro mall. Sri Agrawal was also to a great extent able to clarify based on documents and court orders regarding an element of doubt which had purposefully and deliberately been created by the Hon'ble Solicitor General on the previous day regarding whether the area in question is the river bed or not. Sri Agrawal it seems has more in store, which he shall submit further on next Tuesday (15.1.08) when he shall resume his submissions, curtailed today before time, for the bench had to leave to attend a condolence meet. One must acknowledge the patience and sincerity of the bench for the manner in which it is providing good time to all concerned and trying to get to the bottom of the 'game' which is not very easy to fathom since the so called 'National Prestige' associated with the hype around the Commonwealth Games can easily sway any one. hopefully...

2007-11-22T23:35:00.000+05:30

Hundreds of youth and university students came out on road on a call from "YOUTH FOR JUSTICE" to organise a candle light protest in the capital city of New Delhi against the mass murders in Nandigram by private army of ruling party in west Bengal in India.

2007-11-17T00:58:00.000+05:30

MASS MURDERS IN NANDIGRAM

FARMER SUICIDES IN VIDARBHA

LOOT AND KILLING OF YAMUNA IN DELHI

CAN WE AFFORD TO REMAIN SILENT???

JOIN US TO PAY HOMAGE TO INNOCENT PEOPLE KILED IN NANDIGRAM BY STATE GOVT.

AND TAKE PLEDGE TO STOP LOOT AND KILLING OF YAMUNA IN THE NAME OF COMMONWEALTH GAMES

THIS SUNDAY 18th NOVEMBER 2007
at 5:00 pm
CENTRAL PARK,
CANNAUGHT PLACE, DELHI.

2007-11-04T16:22:00.000+05:30

YOU ARE INVITED

WEEKLY MEETING

SUNDAY, 4th Nov. 2007

6:00 PM

CENTRAL PARK,

CANNAUGHT PLACE, NEW DELHI

2007-11-04T08:00:00.000+05:30

2007-11-01T15:57:00.000+05:30

Yamuna panel chief wants demolition
HINDUATAN TIMES 1st NOV.2007
Aruna P. Sharma

New Delhi

IN AN unprecedented move, the convenor of the Yamuna (removal of encroachments) Monitoring Committee has sought demolition of all permanent structures erected in the Yamuna riverbed by the Delhi Development Authority and the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation.
In a report submitted to the High Court, retired additional district and sessions judge S.M. Aggarwal, the convenor of the committee, has also sought that DDA and DMRC should be penalised for damaging the river's eco-system by undertaking construction of the massive Metro rail yard, a residential complex in 1.85 acres of the river bed, a huge Games Village Metro station along with a mall by Parsvanath Developers and the Commonwealth Games Village.
The report has also recommended exemplary action against the Vice Chairman of DDA for deliberate and willful violation of Delhi High Court order directing that the river bed be maintained as a water body or wetland by the DDA and all other authorities.
The Yamuna Monitoring Committee headed by retired High Court Judge Justice Usha Mehra, was set up on December 8, 2005 to monitor the removal of all unauthorised structures, jhuggis, places of worship and or any other structure, which are unauthorisedly put in Yamuna bed and its embankments.
The committee submitted the report in the court of Justice A.K. Sikri and Justice Rekha Sharma on Tuesday when they were hearing a public interest petition filed by well-known water activist Rajender Singh, Yamuna Jiye Abhiyaan, other NGOs and resident fronts. The environmental activists have sought immediate stay on construction in the Yamuna river bed and arguments on this count will be heard on November 20.
arunasharma@hindustantimes.com

2007-10-31T11:11:00.000+05:30

Dear All

Greetings from "Youth for Justice"

WAIT FOR BIGGEST YOUTH UPRISING AGAINST THE DESTRUCTIVE DEVELOPMENTAL APPROACH AND LOOT AND KILLING OF YAMUNA IN THE NAME OF COMMONWEALTH GAMES...

UPCOMING EVENTS:-

1.
DISCUSSION ON YAMUNA, HER IMPORTANCE, THREATS TO HER AND ROLE OF YOUTH
HANSRAJ COLLEGE
9:30am , 1st NOVEMBER 2007
organised by- History society

2.
WEEKLY MEETING OF "YOUTH FOR YAMUNA"- a Youth for Justice Initiative
CENTRAL PARK, C.P. , DELHI
5:30pm, SUNDAY, 4th November 2007

3.
JOINT PROTEST FOR YAMUNA
INDIA GATE
7th November 2007
organised by- CITIZEN,S FRONT FOR WATER DEMOCRACY

4.
LAUNCH OF SHINING NETWORK AND DISCUSSION ON YAMUNA
KAMLA NEHRU COLLGE
AT 9:30 AM, 13TH NOVEMBER 2007