Gundica Mandir Jena

"SAYE YAMUNA JI CAMPAIN"
LETS BRING YAMUNA JI BACK HOME

"O River Yamuna, you are the blissful spiritual water that gives love to the son of Nanda Maharaja. You are the same as the water of the spiritual world, for you can vanquish all our offenses and the sinful reactions incurred in life. You are the creator of all auspicious things for the world. O daughter of the sun-god, kindly purify us by your pious activities." Cc. Madhya 3.28 Caitanya Mahaprabhu

SRI YAMUNA YATRA

After winning the battle against mining mafia in the `Braj-Vrindavan`, who were brutally destroying the holy land of Sri Krishna, it´s monuments, holy hills and the culture of Bhraj Bhoomi, Shri Ramesh Baba Ji Maharaaj from Maan Mandir, Barsana emphasized the urgency to save the most holiest river of the world; Shri Yamuna Ji. The fight for the dignity of this most sacred river, which was already going on for many years, gained tremendous momentum since the inauguration of a historical foot march that started on 01. Mach 2011 due to the inspiration of Shri Ramesh Baba Ji Maharaaj.

The yatra was a joint effort by devotees of Maan Mandir, Barsana and 'Bhartiya Kisan Union'. Thus farmers and devotees from all parts of the country came together in a response against the horrifying state of pollution of Sri Yamunjai.

HARI NAAM SANKIRTAN

The driving force behind this Yamuna yatra, as well as in the previous victorious battle for the preservation of the sacred hills of Braj Bhoomi, is the faith in 'Hari Naam Sankeertan'. Due to the power of 'Hari Naam Sankeertan' the devotees were victorious over the government and able to

save the sacred hills from destruction due to mining and at the present there is very important preservation work going on in regard to the sacred forests and kunds of Braj. Also many thousands of cows have been saved from slaughterhouses so far as Maan Mandir Sewa Sansthan has started Mata Ji Gaushala with a vision of bringing the glory and majesty of mother cow back to its original form as it used to be in Krishna's time. All this work has been fruitful only because of the power of the Holy Name. By having faith in the powerful yajna of Nam Sankirtan also a greatly impossible task as the purification of the river Yamuna Ji will be successful.

Thus this unique Yamuna yatra was underlined by non- stop 24 hour sankirtan and continued for 45 days until it finally reached the Prime Minister's Office, in New Delhi on the 13. April 2011.

PRESENT SITUATION - HIGHLY POLLUTED

The present crisis especially concentrates on the 22 mile stretch where the Yamuna traverses through Delhi. The stretch between Wazirabad and Okhla barrage in Delhi is only 2% of its catchment area, but it contributes about 80% of the river’s total pollution load. There due to lack of proper sanitation, raw sewage from over 200 million people, chemical wastes from 20,000 large and small industries, domestic garbage and plastic are dumped into this cultural tributary.

PRESENT SITUATION - DEATH RIVER

The value of total coliform upstream of Delhi is twice the standard value. That means that the pollution level is already twice before Yamuna Ji enters Delhi. After it passes through Delhi, the pollution level goes 25 times the maximum allowable! About 2000 million litres of sewage is pumped into the river from Delhi every day, and its water is now unfit to support any life. Due to this irresponsible pollution Sri Yamuna Ji is now declared by government classification as a‘ dead’ river and is counted on world standards to be amongst the most polluted rivers on earth.

PRESENT SITUATION - NO YAMUNA JI AT ALL

HATHINI KUND BARRAGE

But it is not only the pollution of Sri Yamuna Ji that is the issue of concern. The shocking news is that there is factually no Sri Yamuna Ji at all that is flowing through Braj as more than 97% of her water is taken away by Hariyana at Hathini Kund Barrage brefore Delhi. After few km from this barrage, Yamuna bed is totally dry. What reaches Braj-Brindavan is pure sewage of shahdara drain, highly polluted Hindon river and few other small polluted drains.

WAZIRABAD BARRAGE

After 22 km downstream from Wazirabad barrage the Yamuna water is again blocked and diverted into Agra Canal for irrigation through another barrage at Okhla. No water is allowed to flow down particularly during summer, as the available water in the river is not adequate to fulfill the water supply demand of Delhi. The water flows in the Yamuna River downstream of Wazirabad is the treated, partially treated or untreated domestic & industrial wastewater contributed by various drains joining river Yamuna and canal water.

OKHLA BARRAGE

At downstream Okhla barrage the water that is flowing in the river is the drain water of domestic & industrial origin contributed mainly by Shahdara drain. After travelling a distance of around 166 km, the river reaches at Mathura from where again a major part of water is diverted for drinking water supply through Gokul barrage.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

DECISSION BY THE SUPREME HIGH COURT

A Public interest petition case titled Cdr Sureshwar D Sinha Vs Union of India W.P.(C) 537 of 1992.was filed to seek the enforcement of measures to stop the high rate of pollution in the river Yamuna at Delhi. It also sought court's orders to permit fair levels of water flow in the rivers Ganga and Yamuna that have been severely curtailed depriving millions of people in downstream areas, of the benefits of these rivers. The Supreme Court formed a High Powered committee which said the following amongst other short term measures:

(b) Since the availability of even 10 cumecs of fresh water in the river particularly along Delhi will not be adequate for the purpose of dilution of treated waste water to bring its BOD down to the desired level, construction of a truck sewerage system along the Delhi stretch of the river (between Wazirabad and Okhla) to carry the treated waste water up to Okhla for irrigation purposes is necessary. From Okhla, the treated sewage water should be entirely diverted for irrigation through the existing canal system.

Ideally, the solution sought was within reach if the measures and orders were implemented in spirit. However neither the proposed Trunk sewer running parallel to Yamuna bed is anywhere in sight physically or in mention nor has the High Powered Committee been able to implement the 10 cusec natural flow of Yamnotri waters in Delhi. In 12 years it has also not been able to assess the right amount of water to be maintained in the entire stretch.

Please klick on image to view grafic on present situation and solution for Yamuna Ji river

GOVERNMENT FAILURE and " SRI YAMUNA YATRA"

All that was being tried to be done by the inauguration of the historical Yamuna Yatra was to ask the government to implement the Supreme Court's High Powered Committee measures. Reaching Delhi after 45 days the Yamuna Yatra culminated in a huge demonstration at Jantar Mantar in which more than 10,000 Brijwasis and farmers took part who presented a ten point list of demands to the government. But unfortunately with little effect.

HUNGER STRIKE and GOVERNMENT ASSURANCES

As politicians in charge were neglecting their duty the march was followed by a fast to death, with some 50 devotees and farmers participating demanding the government to act. Although on 18.April a special emergency meeting about that issue was held by Prime minister, Environment Minister and minister of Water resources no paper meeting the outstanding demands of the participants of the "Save River Yamuna campaign" was signed. Therefore the hunger strike continued and an Open letter was send to PM and President by the Yamuna Bachao Andolan. By that time the demonstration and fast at the Jantar Mantar grounds in Delhi had become quite a source of discomfort for the government as news of the outcry of Brajbhumi's devotees against the Yamuna's condition had quickly begun to reverberate not only around India but around the whole world.

On the instruction of Home Minister P. Chidambaram, the Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh, and the Water Minister Salman Khurshid, and the Rural Development Minister Pradip Jain, as well as UP Congress secretary Rita Joshi Bahuguna were all sent to placate the demonstrators. In an attempt to defuse the movement the government had some talks with its leaders at the Jantar Mantar grounds in Delhi and on 22.April finally some agreement was reached with regard to the release of more water into the Yamuna on a limited number of days per month. With the obvious intention of getting the demonstrators to stop their hunger strike and leave Delhi the government also proposed a standing committee to investigate the situation of Yamuna Ji. But this has not yet satisfied the activists, who come from both the devotional and agricultural communities.

END of HUNGERSTRIK but NOT END of "SAVE YAMUNA JI CAMPAIN " at DELHI

Although the demonstrators did stop their fast they decided not to leave the Jantar Mantar grounds in Delhi. This made the central government ministers uneasy, but they were unable to make any firm commitments due to pressure from the Haryana and Delhi governments, who are loathe to give up any of their portion of the Yamuna waters. Meanwhile, back in the Braj, the cry of "Save the Yamuna" was taking on the allure of a mass movement, with more and more organizations taking an active role in publicly pressing the various levels of government to take action. Thus many demonstrations begun to take place in Maharashtra, Gujarat and Bihar.

ISKCON JOINS " SAVE YAMUNAJI CAMPAIN "

As the outcry of Brajbhumis devotees against the sad condition of the holy river Yamuna begun to reverberate around India and gained on momentum with every day, on 24.April more than 3000 devotees from ISKCON's Radha Gopinath temple in Mumbai´s Chowpatti district came forward and joined hands in the noble effort to bring Yamuna Ji back to Braj bhoomi. Under the motto "Can you hear Yamuna Devi calling for help!?" they took part in a huge demonstration to support the ongoing "Save Yamuna campaign".

On that day the streets of the world metropolis were reverberating from the joined 'Hari Naam Sankeertan' of the Holy Names as thousands of people were drowning the city into an ocean of banners reading like: "Save Yamuna or discard national anthem"," as they were invoking the mercy of God for this noble cause. In the effort the Mumbai ISKCON centers staged huge demonstrations week after week at various places and started to conduct many awareness programs and kirtan events to support Save Yamuna campaign. They invited concerned celebrities to attract media to get public coverage in order to spread the words around the world.

FAKE ASSURANCES by GOVERNMENT and MAHAPANCHAYAT

Yet back in Delhi it became clear that all affirmation of the government were just fake assurances. After a visit at Hathinikund Barrage and a visit to Wazirabad barrage it was seen that neither a single drop of the demanded 140 cusecs of water were to be found in the canal from Haryana to Najafgarh drain which were ordered to be released by Supreme Court, nor the 160 cusecs of water that were supposed to be released from Hathinikund barrage were implemented.

Therefore the greatly disappointed farmers and sadhu-saints called up for a farmers' Mahapanchayat on 1st of May at Jantar Mantar and gave an ultimatum to the government of releasing the water so that it reaches Mathura till 1st of May. With the single motive to assure minimum water flow throughout the River Yamuna so that its ecology can be maintained thousands of protesting farmers and sadhus from various regions of the country participate.

DEMONSTRATION AT DELHI CALLED OFF AFTER 1 MONTH

On 1st of May finally after 1 month the demonstration at Jantar Mantar, Delhi, was called off after the Mahapanchayat in which also ISKCON Delhi joined hands by delivering free feast to the participants of the demonstration and performing sankeertan. Although the demonstration in Delhi was called off the "Save Yamuna campaign" continues as the demands of the participants were not put in action.

An independent committee consisting of government officials and members of Shri Maan Mandir Save Sansthan and President of Bhartiya Kisan Union (Bhanu) was constituted that is about to work on the action plan in phases for freeing Yamuna water from the clutches of Hathani Kund in Haryana which blocks over 80% of the Yamnotri water.

"SAVE YAMUNA JI - FREE YAMUNA JI CAMPAIN " continues

Save Yamuna Ji campaign has gathered unprecedented support from various social, political, ecological, and religious groups in India and the whole world. More and more organizations from different religious and social backgrounds are taking an active role in publicly pressing the various levels of government to take action to free Yamuna Ji and demand proper action to get her relieved from the huge amounts of sewage and waste. Especially more and more devotees from all over the world

are now realizing that Shri Ramesh Baba Ji Maharaaj mission is not just to find solution for the sewage and industrial waste that is being dumped into Yamuna Ji but more importantly the service to Lord Krishna is first of all to bring Yamuna Ji back to Braj. She has been diverted into Harayana and UP for too long. Her real place is Braj where she will be united once again with the Lord Krishna. Especially many ISKCON centers from all around the world come forward to support that noble cause in direct or indirect ways by conducting speeches and kirtan programs and continue to raise awareness in their community and through the whole world by means of media on a regular basis.

A QUESTION of THE HEART

Fighting for dignity of Yamuna Ji is not only a responsibility of Maan Mandir or "Bhartiya Kisan Union'. Especially for devotees it is as question of the heart. When 'Chaitanya MahaPrabhu Ji' had reached in a forest, even Loins were singing 'Hari Bol'. Today everybody can hear 'Bring our Yamuna back to Braj' voice coming from many parts of India and abroad. Brajwasis want to hear this voice from all over the world. Then on the basis of faith in The Holy Name and by means of joining hands in 'Hari Naam Sankeertan' miracles will happen.

Braj Boomi is very eagerly waiting to see 'Shri Yamuna Ji' back and asking devotees to come forward and do something as soon as possible for this noble cause. This is not a one time attempt. This is a start only. 'Hari Naam Sankeertan" is most powerful of all means to fight for the dignity of Sri Yamuna Ji. Just let the whole world know that why are we doing this 'Hari Naam Sankeertan' (just to inspire and educate them). We can invite/join other ISKCON temples to make big events. Let the whole world see the power of devotion...JUST FOR BRAJ - FOR YAMUNA JI.

If all devotees of Krishna worldwide join hands, we can surely bring our Braj back to its original state and by this we ourselves will be floating
in the waves of unlimited causeless MERCY.

LOVE IS SHOWN BY COOPERATION

Srila Prabhupada once said that our love to him would be proved by the way how we would cooperate. And how could we better prove our love for Yamuna Ji, who is bestowing upon us love to Sri Krishna, than by our sincere cooperation under the single banner of 'Hari Naam Sankeertan? Love means to serve. Let us join hands and serve that most divine river that is so dear to the heart of the divine couple Sri Radha Krishna.

- Sri Yamuna Ji Jaya Ho -

Krishna says: "those who serve my devotees, those who love my devotees, they worship me the best, because I love my devotees."

Shri Radha Rani says: "where there is no Vrindavan, where there is no Yamuna river, where there is no Govardhan hill, in such a place, my heart finds no happiness." (Garga Samhita)

Lets join hands in the

"SAVE YAMUNA JI CAMPAIN"
LETS BRING YAMUNA JI BACK HOME

PLEASE SIGN PETITION to SAVE SRI YAMUNAJI at:
http://www.petitiononline.com/SaveYM/petition.html
AND SPREAD THE MESSAGE

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

PETITION to SAVE SRI YAMUNA JI

WEITER

Grafic of SOLUTION for Yamuna Ji River

WEITER

Der heilige Fluss Yamuna, der durch das Herz von Vrindavan fließt, ist für die Devotees von Krishna sogar noch heiliger... WEITER

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Watch Videos on Yamuna Ji topic and "Save Yamuna Campaign"