The Hindu : New Delhi News : Yamuna crusaders allege callousness, mafia hand

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Friday, Oct 26, 2007
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New Delhi

New Delhi

Yamuna crusaders allege callousness, mafia hand

Staff Reporter

To collect signatures to force the Government to abandon its construction plans

Photo: Anu Pushkarna

To save the Yamuna: Former Prime Minister V. P. Singh leading the Yamuna Bachao Andolan workers at Raj Ghat in New Delhi on Thursday.

NEW DELHI: Castigating the Delhi Government for its refusal to call off all construction work on the banks of the Yamuna, activists who are part of the ongoing Yamuna Satyagraha here have alleged that destruction of the riverbed is not just an example of callousness towards environment and the people but also manifests the “control that the builders’ have over decision-making”.

Stepping up their efforts to seek an end to construction work on the Yamuna floodplains, which include the building of the Commonwealth Games Village, the satyagrahis have decided to march across the city and collect signatures to force the Delhi Government to abandon its plans of building on the river banks.

A “Yamuna Bacha-Jeevan Bachao Yatra” that was flagged off on Thursday by former Prime Minister V. P. Singh will travel across the city to gather support for saving the Yamuna.

“The Yatra includes activists, farmers, students and environmentalists who are part of the Yamuna Satyagraha. It will cover a distance of over 1,000 km and will conclude at India Gate on November 7,” said Citizens’ Front for Water Democracy president S. A. Naqvi.

The Yatra, which began at Raj Ghat, will cover different areas of the Capital and conduct a public referendum over the issue of saving the riverbed from construction.

“We will collect the signatures on a 1,000-metre-long white cloth, which will be submitted to the Delhi Chief Minister who holds the vital decision-making position vis-À-vis the issue,” said Dr. Vandana Shiva, co-convenor of the Citizens’ Front for Water Democracy.

Reacting to the Delhi Government’s remarks that it is too late to call off construction of the Games Village near the Akshardham Temple, Dr. Shiva said: “When the struggle to save the Yamuna began, the construction of the Games Village was yet to start. There was ample time for the Government to reconsider their plan that will destroy the Yamuna.”

“The fact that the Government is not even ready to consider the setting up of temporary buildings for the Games Village is proof enough that it not about the Games at all. The issue stems from the control that the builder mafia has on our decision-makers,” Dr. Shiva lamented.

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