"Last year's memories fresh in mind, Vaishnavites and Yamuna devotees congregated in good numbers to lit 5551 lamps along the banks, sang bhajans and offered prasad to Yamuna maiyya, praying she would return in floor glory and fury this year also when the rains start," Bankey Lal Maheshwari, chief of the Sri Nathji Nishulk Jal Sewa which had organized the programme told Agratoday.in.

 A flood is not only a welcome sight as we saw last year, but also helps clear up heaps of debris, garbage dumps and dilute pollutants discharged by industries and open drains all the way from Delhi to Agra, said Shravan Kumar Singh, vice president of the Braj Mandal Heritage Conservation Society which had mobilized large number of locals to the Yamuna ghat for the event.

 "We want people to come to the Ghats and see the pitiable condition of the river which has been reduced to a sewage canal, without water. Agra is perhaps the only city with such a long river front which was used by the Mughal rulers to build so many glorious monuments along its banks. But what have we done today," said Shishir Bhagat, president of the Wake Up Agra group.

 The river front till the emergency in 1975 was a vibrant and thriving stretch lined up by Pucca Ghats and a row of temples. "But Sanjay Gandhi demolished all structures to make way for a modern Chowpati like Mumbai, but that opportunity never came his way, because of political turn around," said Hari Mohan Shrotriya, priest of the famous Sri Mathuradheesh ji  temple, across the road.

 Why pray for a flood? "That is because only a flood can wash all the pollutants and raise the water level in the city. The horrible eye-sore in the form of the ill conceived Taj Corridor between two world heritage sites the Fort and the Taj Mahal, needs urgent cleaning up, because it has become a vast dumping ground for all kinds of waste, even for burying dead animals, emitting foul stink all around," said an angry Yamuna bhakt Subhash.

 While the Bhajan mandli of women from several colonies raised the devotional ambience, the stink from the river bed from the Bhairon nullah opening into the river directly without treatment, was such a put off, triggering caustic remarks and critical comments from the people.

 "How one wishes the flood would sweep away all the illegal encroachments on the river bed by greedy colonizers and a swift current would scoop out the silt which has choked the city's aquafiers, obstructing seepage which alone can raise the water table," said young scientist Anand Rai.

Meanwhile, at least a dozen groups on Monday carried on with Dharnas and protest marches, smashing Matkas and Surahis at the Collectorate and corporation offices, to demand drinking water. Agra has been facing an acute shortage of drinking water last few weeks, despite promises from the state government of release of Ganges water through the Harnal Escape upstream of Vrindavan, to get over the shortage.

"So far we have not seen any change in the availability of water and with summer peaking now, the crisis could take a nasty turn," said Radhey and Nandan Shrotriya of Yamuna Kinara road.

The water shortage in Mathura, Firozabad and Aligarh has been equally serious as municipal bodies have failed to draw up permanent solutions to develop the required infrastructure and storage facilities to keep pace with growing numbers.

Despite hundreds of crores invested in infrastructural development in the eco-sensitive Taj Trapeizium Zone, spread over 10,000 sq kms, the districts of Agra, Mathura and Firozabad continue to face acute shortage of power and water.

The whole of May has seen sporadic scenes of violence, citizen marches and dharnas in different parts of Agra city for regular supply of water and electricity. In Mathura, question marks have been raised on the utility of the Gokul Barrage which has failed to meet the city's water needs nor has helped in raising the water table in the district.