The river remains as polluted as ever, much to the dismay of Mathura’s townspeople and pilgrims alike. From the municipal government to the nodal officer are sitting on their hands, watching as the problem continues to fester.

 Proof that total indifference has set in is that there have been no YAP meetings for the last six months, when regular monthly meetings were supposed to be held.

 As previously reported, despite the importance of sacred bathing during the period from Diwali to Yama Dvitiya, the overflow of sewage from the Bangali Ghat pumping station into the river in the sensitive bathing area of Mathura was not brought to a stop. The Swami Ghat SPS seems to have the same problem. Moreover, the accumulation of mud and silt left by this years flooding also made bathing difficult for visitors.

 This year, to facilitate bathing, several of the sluice gates at the Gokula Barrage were closed, making the water levels a bit higher for those few days. Now, however, the gates have been opened again and the levels are once again lowered.

 Petitioner Gopeshwar Nath Chaturvedi said, “It is clear that the Nodal Officer is not taking the seriously. He and Kailash Chandra of the district administration need to call a meeting as soon as possible.”

 Meanwhile, longtime Yamuna activist Mahendra Nath Chaturvedi is calling attention to the Gokula Barrage and asking whether it is fulfilling its purpose. Chaturvedi said yesterday that the barrage is actually contributing to the increase of communicable disease in the district.

Chaturvedi said, “I sent a RTI petition to the responsible authorities on October 26, 2006 and still have received no answer. We hope that the ongoing hearings into the dengue situation resulting from the PIL of advocate Jai Prakash Narain Vajpayee at the Lucknow division bench of the Allahabad High Court will get some results.”

The PIL claims that Lucknow and other cities in the state were being gripped by dengue and malaria due to the lack of a proper cleanliness drive by district authorities.

The petition is in relation to the stopping of dengue in the district.

Chaturvedi, who is convener of the Braj Lifeline Welfare Organisation, further elaborated, “The original purpose of the Gokula Barrage was to supply pure drinking water to Mathura. But it is actually creating huge areas of stagnant water, which is full of sewage from the drains of every city from Delhi to Mathura. Mosquitoes are breeding in this water and then go on to spread the deadly dengue fever.”

“If the people of Mathura still have to use alum and chlorine to purify their water, can we say that the barrage is fulfilling its purpose of providing clean drinking water?” He also remarked that since the barrage has been built, the ground water levels in the district have fallen another 25 feet.

Chaturvedi’s concerns will be heard at the judicial inquiry into the spread of dengue in Uttar Pradesh.