Reclaim Yamuna, Reclaim Hope

Our mission is to bring water and life back into a river considered dead.

We have been working towards a clean and water full Yamuna. To fulfil this objective, we have been creating awareness and consulting experts on ways to increase the water flow, including the viability of targeted dredging. Our discussion with scientists and scholars has indicated that an increase in the flow of the water in Yamuna will also lead to decline in pollution level. The following video is a visualization of an idea to revive, restore and rejuvenate Yamuna which emerged during such discussions.

Voices from the Experts Expert Speak

To bring water back in Yamuna, we have taken the following quotes/suggestions from the seminars we have conducted earlier: Now, desilting process is very simple process, Indian capability is there, there are so many Indian companies, they are engaged in desilting which we have also seen if you go to Bangalore most of the ponds have been desilted, even those good lakes, now it has been recharged and it is doable, it is not so difficult, I think. Now, then the issue was that day when we are discussing the what to do with those you know once we do the dredging the materials which we are taking out from the river, I said the, these are the most fertile soil and it can be, we can use it for many purposes. So, that is not a very big issue, even government can earn some money from that also. So, one is dredging, the second thing is that we can think of constructing some good bunds like if you look at the river Mahanadi

Maj Gen RC Padhi (Retd.)

I think the municipal authorities of Delhi should actually take note of. This is a case of the Upper Hudson in New York. With the involvement of GE, more than 3 lakh pounds of polychlorinated biphenyls were removed. And this is targeted removal.

Dr. R. Gopichandran

My point is- a suitable study should be carried out whether the dredging that will enhance the carrying capacity of the Yamuna and how much that will be sustainable.

Prof. Zulfiqar Ahmed, IIT Roorkee

So, what at most we can do is, we can look for some specific sites wherein this solid waste that has been dumped which are not belonging to the river can be targeted and removed at specific places.

Prof. Elango Lakshmanan, IIT Madras

We need to maintain environmental flow. If the environmental flow is affected due to siltation at a targeted locations, we can go in for dredging. To go for dredging, as discussed, we need to have what was the topography previously. This is available. The engineered structures such as bridges, barrages, can provide what were the previous topography levels. So, if the level of the riverbed has gone above that, at targeted places we can do limited dredging.

Pushkar Priyadarshi, LT IDPL Limited

So, we have to do a major dredging for two reasons. One is that of course it will have flood control. Apart from that, I firmly believe that the river Yamuna bed is disturbed thoroughly because of these chemical effluents coming into it. So, if you do dredging, it will balance its aquatic ecosystem as well. And it will certainly improve aquatic life and your biodiversity in that area. Now the problem with dredging is that where the sediments will go. The sediments which you are taking out has to be disposed off as per the law of land.

Dr. Sutapa Pati, XIM University

Dredging is an aggressive design. It's like taking Crocin in fever. In an extreme case, we can take certain operative measures urgently.

Join the Movement to Save Yamuna Hamari Yamuna, Hum Bachayein Campaign

Our large campaign is aimed at increasing the water flow in Yamuna. Increased water will address the problem of depleting water table and boost farming and agriculture in the Haryana-Delhi belt. It will also revive the aquatic ecosystem and enhance people’s religious-spiritual connection making Yamuna a lifeline of the people once again.

How You Can Support

A Rupee for Yamuna

Please contribute Rs1/- as a token of support for the cause of reviving, restoring and rejuvenating Yamuna.

Yamuna Kalash

To stop flowers and other religious offerings from being eventually dumped in River Yamuna, we plan to install kalash-shaped large collection pots within residential societies or temple premises to collect such items. In what promises to be the largest community campaign of its kind, we will partner with residential societies, resident welfare associations (RWAs), and other people networks towards safe, respectable and constructive disposal of religious offerings, and their effective recycling as well.

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Who We Are ABOUT MCWR

MAS Council for Water and River (MCWR) works towards preservation, conservation, rejuvenation, revival, management, and maintenance of rivers and water bodies, through partnerships, collaborations, and co-creations. It started its journey in 2019 as an organic online repository of resources to create awareness around rivers and water bodies. Known as ‘Million Smiles’ (millionsmiles.net), its initial campaign was directed towards documenting the multiplicity of approaches in dealing with issues related to water bodies, as well as their intersections across disciplines and skill domains. MCRW has now become a legal entity whose objective is to bring out-of-box ideas from the larger section of society, ideas which holds potential to be game changer in the field of revival, restoration, and rehabilitation of rivers and water bodies. It is now working towards bringing together individuals, professionals, organizations, and societies —from water management, hydrology, geology, mining, ecology & environment, humanities and social science, construction, surface and river transport, information technology and other related fields—to create awareness around rivers and water bodies; build better knowledge ecosystems; undertake and facilitate research projects and consultancies; and, offer a common knowledge and expertise platform to deal with issues related to rivers and water bodies.

The Council has organized ‘YAMUNA PANCHAYATS’ with village communities living along the river. With the idea of reaching children and youth, it has also conducted awareness generation programs (YUVA AUR YAMUNA) in schools and institutions. MCWR has recently started an initiative called ‘YAMUNA VIMARSH’ which are aimed at 360-degree discussions around the current state of the river. Finally, it has held multiple discussions and ideation workshops (YAMUNA MANTHAN) with experts from IIT Roorkee, IIT Madras, Delhi University, International institute of Adult and Lifelong Education (IIALE), XIM University, NTPC Business School, and Reliance Infrastructure Limited.