"This could have serious repercussions and even put the Delhi government in the dock for failing to effectively tap the drains and discharge of industrial effluents in the river," DK Joshi, a member of the Supreme Court monitoring committee in Agra told Agratoday.in.

 Meanwhile, in an amazing and unprecedented display of solidarity with the movement launched by the ascetics and Sri Krishna devotees of the Braj Mandal, temples in Gokul were closed for two hours to protest pollution of the river Yamuna on Monday.

 In the evening thousands of locals, high priests of the Sri Krishna, Baldeo (elder brother of Krishna) and Nand Baba (father of Sri Krishna) joined the foot - march along the bank of Yamuna with thousands of followers. Markets too remained closed.

 "This surely ranks as the most impressive people's protest against pollution of rivers," said Acharya Gopi Ballabh. For hours people kept raising slogans "Yamuna Bachao, Pollution Bhagao."

 Residents of Gokul are particularly angry as the barrage constructed on Yamuna has distanced the historical ghats of Gokul from the river. "This is clearly a stupid example of engineering design. The river used to flow along the ghats but now the water has moved a kilometre away and pilgrims are being inconvenienced," said Vrindavan's Acharya Jaimini.

 A charter of demands submitted to the local administration by the protesters demanded that the engineering fault be rectified so that water flows again along the ghats and effective measures be taken to de-pollute the river which was just not a water body but an object of faith and worship by millions of Sri Krishna bhakts all over the world. The protesters declared they would not hesitate to launch a long-drawn out battle to force the powers that be to clean up the Yamuna.

Also, hundreds of ascetics and activists have reached Sangam (confluence) at Allahabad from where the Long March is to start on Wednesday. Radha Krishan Shastri and Jai Krishan Das, chief organisers said the march will reach Delhi around April 15. "We will not withdraw till our demands are met and we will talk only with the prime minister, president or the UPA chairperson," they declared.

For the next 45 days river Yamuna will remain in the focus as the march by thousands of devotees inches towards the national capital via smaller towns, villages and by the time it reaches Agra, the organisers hope it will gain sufficient momentum to rock politics in a significant manner.

This is the first time that the alarming pollution in Yamuna has attracted so many people who look determined to set things right, said eco-activist Ravi Singh in Agra.

Water samples analysed by a TERI researcher Swabha Takshak in Agra paint an extremely dismal picture. "All the parameters: turbidity, hardness, DO, BDO, trace elements, everything is wrong," she told Agratoday.in. The results of samples she tested over a 30-day period pointed to an alarming level of pollutants. Turbidity was 20 NTU against a standard of 5 NTU, hardness was 1136 mg/L against a BIS standard of 300, DO was just 2.2 mg/L against a requirement of minimum 6mg/L, BOD which should be below 2 mg/L was 165mg/L, Chlorine was 71.0 mg/L against a WHO standard of 0.5. Swabha Takshak who carried out the study in May 2010 said "the river is dead for all practical purposes. It is extremely polluted with every kind of pollutant imaginable including toxins and carcinogens."

The state pollution control board officials say they are helpless. Dr. BB Awasthi, regional officer of the Board says "when there is no water in the river what can you do?" If the raw water discharged in the river is increased the pollutants will get diluted and there will be improvement, he says.