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{/googleAds} The Mathura district officials on Monday tried to persuade the activists to give up the plan for the march, fearing more pressure and tension, but the leaders of the Yamuna Bachao Andolan Sant Jai Krishan Das and Bhartiya Kisan Union (Bhanu group) Bhanu Pratap Singh said they would go ahead with the march to force the Uttar Pradesh government to take immediate steps to construct a parallel canal to divert polluted water and tap all the drains opening into the river.

The campaigners said neither the Delhi or Haryana governments had done anything concrete so far nor has the UP government agencies taken steps to curb pollution in the river and ensure a minimum flow of water round the year.

Campaigners from Barsana including Radha Krishan Shastri are joining the march.

Meanwhile, the 'dying' river was choked with Durga idols after the Visarjan (immersion) ceremony. In Agra alone, more than 3000 idols were immersed at the Haathi Ghat, Balkeshwar Ghat along the Yamuna. 'The Visarjan Kunds dug up by some green activists proved too small and inadequate, as groups of devouts kept turning up with big and bigger idols of the Devi with all the fanfare and musical backup. The whole Yamuna Kinara road was jammed for the better part of the day. The city of the Taj has never witnessed in the past such fervour. Is it some indication of shape of things to come,' wondered green activist Shravan Kumar Singh.

According to Heritage Society president Surendra Sharma, 'the politics of pollution must stop. It's no use blaming one agency or state. In the Taj city, despite the orders of the Supreme Court, dhobies (people who wash clothes in the river) have not been shifted. Dairies within the city and the crematorium at Taj Ganj or the hundreds of petha (sweet)-making units in the interiors have not yet been shifted.'

The march by people is a reflection of deep anguish: Each day, hundreds of worshippers of Lord Krishna in Vrindavan, Mathura and Agra return disappointed and deeply frustrated from the Yamuna, as they cannot take a holy dip even on festivals because of the filth and effluents in the river. There are heaps of dirt, and dead bodies are dumped into the river.

Friends of Vrindavan director Jagan Nath Poddar told Mediabharti Syndication Service, 'such sporadic mass movements were necessary to keep the issues in focus. But right now the most alarming situation in the holy city is the state of the famous Keshi Ghat. The main Yamuna has distanced itself from the main ghat. The UP government should immediately dredge the whole area and desilt the river, so that the river water touches the ghats.'