Yamuna

The river has attained the distinction of being perhaps the river attracting the most judicial attention in india, after the Ganga. This report analyses the various laws and judicial decisions pertaining to the Yamuna and their effects on the river.

It aims to inform, enlighten and suggest solutions to bring back the river Yamuna to a healthy and resilient state. 

Guest post by: Amita Bhaduri

The public art outreach project was organized by the Max Mueller Bhavan in association with the Government of Delhi and the Goethe-Institut (Hamburg, Germany) as a part of the “Year of Germany in India” programme opened on 5^th of November, 2011. The art exhibition which continued till the 19^th of November co-curated by artist Ravi Agarwal who is also a practicing environmentalist (Director, Toxics Link) along with German artist, Till Krauser attempted to create a pulsating synergy between the Yamuna and Elbe rivers.

Gigi Scaria’s - The fountain of purification

Photo courtesy: Rocky Thongam

This is a 24 ft installation representing a four storey apartment complex that draws Yamuna water, purifies it at various levels and dispenses it from the top in the form of a fountain.

Organizers: Yamuna Katha

Venue: Delhi

Yamuna Katha is a collaborative effort to understand how the river-city-dyad has formed over the years and what has been the relationship between the river, the people, the flora and the fauna. Yamuna Katha brings to a common zone, representatives of various stakeholders who are directly or indirectly connected with the river for a collaborative exchange.

Photo Exhibit: Delhi's might, Renuka's plight - 26th Sept-2nd Oct


Venue: Art & Aesthetics Gallery, JNU Campus, New Delhi

The School of Arts and Aesthetics, JNU is one of the few places in India that offers post-graduate degree courses in the theoretical and critical study of the cinematic, visual and performing arts. Moreover, it is the only place in India where these disciplines are offered in an integrated programme that allows students to understand the individual arts in a broader context of history, sociology, politics, semiotics, gender and cultural studies apart from being able to integrate the study of one art form with the other arts. The three streams of study offered at the school are Visual Studies, Theatre & Performance Studies and Cinema Studies.

As you are aware of the fact that the Government has constituted an inspecting body comprising of high authority personnel’s of Central Water Commission, Planning Commission, Haryana Irrigation Department, Delhi Jal Board, Ministry of Environment and Forests and 6 members of Yamuna Bachao Aandolan. The team will then submit its report to the Central Government within one week and forthcoming plans will be discussed then.

The team had visited the Hathinikund barrage and told that it was a complete failure as the water is not at all being released from Hathinikund barrage. They came to know about the matter after enquiring with local public. The imposter authorities had released the said amount (160 cusecs) of water. The local public there told that they are habitual of crossing the Yamuna by riding on their bikes as it remains completely dry, but the water has been released.

About the book

In the present mood of transience and conflict, amidst the emerging riverfront politics, these communities seem to be caught in the eye of the storm.

This was first presented as a paper in a seminar on “The River” organised by the Max Muller Bhawan on 11 and 12 December 2010. Photo credits: Gigi Mon Scaria, Himanshu Joshi and Sohail Hashmi.

Since time immemorial water has been a common property and in many Indian communities there is deep reverence for flowing water. Using the flow of water for community benefit  is considered an act of great merit and  its misuse and contamination, a sin. In temples, tanks were constructed for rituals and also as a way to earn money for the temple.

This report by Aligarh Muslim University and Central Ground Water Board (CGWB) deals with groundwater flow modelling and aquifer vulnerability assessment in Yamuna–Krishni sub-basin of Muzaffarnagar district. For evaluation of the groundwater resources and for minimizing the error of estimation, the system has been evaluated through aquifer modelling where water balance is established using partial differential equation of groundwater flow and is solved with boundary and initial boundary conditions.