from THE HINDU
Smriti Kak Ramachandran
Photo: V. Sudershan ‘Save Yamuna’: Members of the Save Yamuna Group staging a dharna at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi on Friday.NEW DELHI: The traditional “rakhi”, the quintessential symbol of care and protection, will now be used by Yamuna activists as a weapon in their fight against “destruction” of the grand old river and its flood plains.
This coming Tuesday, while the nation celebrates Raksha Bandhan, activists who are part of the Yamuna Satyagraha will tie “rakhis” on trees along the Yamuna flood plains in Delhi that has been set aside for construction of the Commonwealth Games Village.
These activists, who have been maintaining a vigil over the banks of the Yamuna here for the past 24 days -- supported by farmers, students and other members of the civil society -- will take the pledge to save the trees and the river.
“During the Chipko Aandolan when men and women had vowed to protect the trees from being cut, they tied ‘rakhis’ to the trees. We will also save the environment of the city by tying ‘rakhis’ to the trees at the site where the Yamuna Satyagraha has been going on,” said noted environmentalist Vandana Shiva.
Stepping up pressure on the Government to change the site of the Games Village, the activists will organise a “Yamuna Yatra”, cover the villages around the city and create public awareness about the need to preserve the river.
Cautioning against undermining nature, Magsaysay Award winner “Waterman” Rajinder Singh said: “When the Yamuna gets angry, it carries everything away with its currents. One must remember what happened to the encroachments along the banks near Yamnotri when the river caused a flood on August 14.”
He regretted that political leaders including the President who have been petitioned to put a moratorium on the construction on the Yamuna banks have thus far been evasive in their response.
“We have sought the Delhi Lieutenant-Governor’s intervention to save the flood plains. While he has asked us to draw up the terms and reference for an independent probe by non-government agencies, he has not agreed to suspend construction of the Games Village,” said Vinod Jain, founder-chairperson of NGO “Tapas”.
