Visit to Palla Gaon
Going through the initiatives of selfless activists who had given years and years of their life to revive Yamuna, it was difficult to miss out Palla village. Palla, which is located on the north of Delhi and is also close to the tri-junction of three states of Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana. Yamuna enters Delhi on the east of Palla village, and environmentalists often talk about Yamuna near Palla village to draw attention about the deterioration which Yamuna sees in its 26 km run before it leaves Delhi. Perhaps Yamuna sees more pollution and untreated sewage being dumped into it, in this stretch of 26kms, than in the remaining of 1376km run from Yamunotri to Prayag. Delhi which has Yamuna closely associated to its identity; and has many of its historical monuments on the bank; may find miserable Yamuna reciting the eternal words of Ghalib-
हमे तो अपनों ने लूटा
गैरो में कहाँ दम था…
On 10th September we left early from Noida for Palla village. With some confusion being sorted out with quick and smart thinking we took the flyover from ring road to Burari. There was a sense of inquisitiveness to have a glimpse of Yamuna Biodiversity Park on way to Palla. But the struggle between biodiversity park and human settlement created an intense screen of opaqueness and we could not have any passing view of biodiversity park. In turn we saw number of bus parking bays. No wonders the roads of Delhi are free from parking of interstate private buses. In little over half an hour from our stop to pick Sanjeev Roy, we were on the bund road. It was a pleasant morning drive with Yamuna flood plain on right and agricultural land on the left. Nearer to Palla village, there were many farm houses, religious & institutional land etc. With some road side assistance on best place to access Yamuna bank, we were advised to go for shank number 4.
Shank, which is used for river training, are type of guide bund, which helps in protecting banks from erosion and stabilising river channel. Shanks were a regular sight on our drive on Bund Road. Initially I mistook shanks to be part of Ranney Well for supplying water to Delhi. Which is also a purpose but not limited to this.
The road for shank no 4 was much better than I expected and concerned about. As my car was not an off-road vehicle to take on any road leading to river bank. Parking our car next to ruins of wire fence, separating the soil and sand, we got out of car to breathe in refreshing morning air. Jumping over some few inches of last resistance which the wire fence offered, we walked on the sandy banks of Yamuna. It was for the first time in last 30 years since I have been in Delhi, I was so close to Yamuna in Delhi and so happy about it. Yamuna and its sandy bank was very different from the regular sight which has become a template for many of millions staying in Delhi. From a distance of some few hundred metres, Yamuna appeared clean. Cannot term its water to be pristine blue, what was historically an acclaimed characteristic of river Yamuna, but for me, it was much better than what I was used to seeing Yamuna while crossing Nizamuddin bridge or Kalindi Kunj barrage, it was quite pleasant.
As we walked further towards the river, we could feel the enthusiasm and energy of children who were playing by the river side. They had an elderly person, Akash jain, accompanying them. Akash ji is a teacher at government school near Palla. While I was admiring the river and taking photos, my friends chatted with Akash ji, only to discover the responsibility people in villages take to protect the natural resources. He and his friends often go around cleaning the river bank. And yes, this was not for any publicity, but perhaps as part of ownership which he and the people living nearby has for river Yamuna. After exchanging contact numbers with Akash ji and spending some time looking at the river it was time for us to leave for our next place of visit.
We hopped into the car and started driving on the Bund Road. With the sun shining bright, the farm houses shone like jewels in an all green landscape. We came to learn from few people with whom we had interacted, that the area has been marked for Country Home, but yet to be notified. A quick Google search tells that in 2013, DDA had cleared 27 villages for 1 acre country homes. Though these Country Homes or what people in Delhi refer to them as- farm house have grass and trees, but its for the environmentalists to debate on their impact on river ecology.
As we were driving slowing, something caught our attention. A company sign board which mentioned about organic produce. We parked our car on road side and went inside the company office. Abhishek Dhama, a young person in late twenties introduced himself as the owner of the company. He was kind to offer us seat and his time. He has been into organic farming since 2013. His office also doubled as Farmer Producer Organisation. He was assisting many of the farmers in his village and nearby area with the nuances of organic farming. His good work had even caught the attention of USAID, which financed a refrigerated room, designed and build by Michigan University. The cooling in day time was through Air Conditioner running on solar power and during the night it was using precooled water to maintain the low temperature. Abhishek, an electronics and communications engineer by qualification chose farming for livelihood, could be an inspiration for many. Abhishek took us around his small establishment of cooling room, disinfecting water tank and storage. The mild chemical which was used for washing the leafy and other vegetables were drained into a nearby pit which was 140 feet deep. Having spent some time with him, we decided to leave and took his guidance on best way to reach either Delhi ring road or Delhi Chandigarh highway. He suggested we take the Palla Bakhtawarpur road to reach Delhi Chandigarh highway.
We started our drive back home, after taking business card from Abhishek and sharing our mobile number with him. Some 5-10 min drive on the road leading to Bakhtawarpur, we came across a sign board of property broker. Not so amused, as the area was becoming hunting ground for those looking for future farm house in Delhi at reasonable price. The property broker was generous and offered us tea. He gave an overview of property landscape. To our surprise, we came to know that land on both side of bund road is saleable. In other words land adjoining the shanks are also up for sale and at lesser price. But, for me, the hot cup of tea, rich in cream and sugar was more interesting and refreshing. I focussed on enjoying every sip of tea while others talked about real estate prospects and changing landscape etc.