The students of class V were taken on a Yamuna Walk on Saturday 8 October, 2019. The walk was conducted in collaboration with Swechha, a youth-run and youth-focused NGO engaged in environmental and social development issues.
The group of students left School at around 8.45 am on the pleasant morning. On the way, Aashim Berry, the representative of the NGO gave a brief introductory talk on the Yamuna which included it’s origin, the states through which it flows, the rising pollution in the river and the importance of the barrage on it.
After about an hour’s bus ride from School, we reached a bridge situated at Sonia Vihar ( Delhi section- Wazirabad) from where we were shown the barrage. The importance of the barrage was discussed-how the Yamuna’s flow is regulated through barrages upstream and how seasonal flows depend on rainfall in the upper catchment and release from the barrages upstream.
The bus proceeded towards the Delhi-UP border, where we alighted and began our walk down the banks of River Yamuna. Where we alighted was a village called Alipur Gaon. From here the Yamuna enters our city. It was a serene view, the Yamuna was clear and there was no dirt or pollution here. The group sat there in silence for a while and took in the view and the serenity. They also collected some water samples for comparison.
Our second stop was the Najafgarh Dam near ISBT Ghat. The sight of the river here had completely changed. From clear water it had become blackish in indicative of the high pollution in the water. The river here meets a barrage and over the bridge you can view the huge amount of dirt flowing into it. We were taken to a point where we could clearly see the sewage of the city being drained into the clean water of the river. Subsequently, we were taken to a point where certain illegal construction activity was being carried on. Here we saw dhobis washing clothes on one side and cattle wading in the water. The students walked down further to collect another sample of water for experiments.
Our last stop was ‘Mountains Ridge’-a signature bridge. We saw the high level of pollutants which had turned the water of the river black and filled with moss. The children were appalled and saddened to see this grim reality of our city. They asked Aashim questions through the journey especially about his NGO and how to prevent climate change.
The students next proceeded to Qudsia Ghat were they were given a brief on how the Yamuna has shrunk over a period, i.e the Yamuna’s 22-km stretch in Delhi is barely 2 per cent of the length of the river, but carries over 70 per cent of the pollution load. Here too they saw the high level of pollutants which had turned the water black.
The students after observing the plight of the river that supports the capital city, decided to make use of the seed balls they were carrying. The seed ‘bombs’ were hurled over onto the Yamuna banks so that the trees would sprout as fill up the vacant spaces.
Back at School, the group was asked to contribute to the ‘Clean Yamuna’ campaign by writing letters to the authorities concerned.
The walk greatly help initiate an understanding among the students of the pollution caused by callous human activity and its future consequences. They were also sensitised to the fact that if the trend to pollute the water continues, after a few generations there will be no clean water available!
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