River yamuna

Courtesy: Mr.Gopala Krishnan

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Since I have read very early about Tajmahal is on the bank of Yamuna in Agra I
was very specific to observe Yamuna on my first visit to Tajmahal in 1993 near
Tajmahal.

Yamuna is also known to me due to Triveni Sangamam at Allahabad where it merges
to Ganga and Saraswathi (under water) where I had my first phase of Pithru
Theertha sraddaha, which ended with Gaya sraadha in 2004.

2. Yamuna daughter of Sun God

In Hindu mythology, Yamuna is the daughter of Sun God, Soorya , and sister of
Yama, the God of Death, hence also known as Yami and according to popular
legends, bathing in its sacred waters frees one from the torments of death.

3. Yamunotri temple and Markandeya theertha

Just like the Ganges, the Yamuna too is highly venerated in Hinduism and
worshipped as goddess Yamuna, throughout its course. I am told the first
iconography was of Ganga and Yamuna on the entry pillars of temples.

The Yamunotri temple on the river is dedicated to Goddess Yamuna. Yamunotri
temple is one of the holiest shrines in Hinduism, and part of the Chota Char
Dham Yatra circuit. Also standing close to the temple, on its 13 km trek route,
that follows the right bank of the river, lies the Markendeya Tirtha, where it
is told the sage Markandeya wrote the Markandeya Purana

4. Yamuna- tributary river of the Ganges

The Yamuna is the largest tributary river of the Ganges (Ganga) in northern
India. Originating from the Yamunotri Glacier at a height 6,387 metres., on the
southwestern slopes of Banderpooch peaks, in the Lower Himalayas, in the
Uttarkashi district, Uttarakhand, north of Haridwar.
It travels a total length of 1,376 kilometres and has a drainage system of
366,223 km2, 40.2% of the entire Ganga Basin, before merging with the Ganges at
Triveni Sangam, Allahabad. Allahabad is the site for the Kumbha Mela every
twelve years and our first phase of theertha sraddha finally ending with Gaya
sraadha.

5. Yamuna Path and main tributaries

Yamuna crosses several states, Uttarakhand, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, passing
by Himachal Pradesh and later Delhi, and meets several of its tributaries on the
way, including Tons, its largest and longest tributary, Chambal, which has its
own large basin, followed by Sindh, the Betwa, and Ken.

Most importantly it creates the highly fertile alluvial, 'Yamuna-Ganga Doab'
region between itself and the Ganges in the Indo-Gangetic plain

Nearly 57 million people depend on the Yamuna waters. With an annual flow of
about 10,000 cubic metres (cum) and usage of 4,400 cum (of which irrigation
constitutes 96 per cent), the river accounts for more than 70 per cent of
Delhi's water supplies.

An important part of its early catchments area totalling 2,320 km² lies in
Himachal Pradesh, and an important tributary draining the Upper Catchment Area
is the Tons, Yamuna's largest and longest tributary, which rises from the
Hari-ki-dun valley and holds water more than the main stream, which it merges
after Kalsi near Dehradun.

The entire drainage system of the river stretches all the way between
Giri-Sutlej catchments in Himachal and Yamuna-Bhilangna catchments in Garhwal,
indeed the southern ridge of Shimla is also drained into this system.

Other tributaries in the region are the Giri, Rishi Ganga, Kunta, Hanuman Ganga
and Bata tributaries, which drain the Upper Catchment Area of the vast Yamuna
basin of seemen .

5.1 Assan Bird sanctuaries

Thereafter the river descends on to the plains of Doon Valley, at Dak Pathar
near Dehradun. Here through a weir dam, the water is diverted into a canal for
power generation, little further down where Yamuna is met by the Assan River,
lies the Assan barrage, which hosts a Bird Sanctuary as well.
5.2 Yamuna nagar dam

After passing the Sikh pilgrimage town of Paonta Sahib, it reaches Tajewala in
Yamuna Nagar district, of Haryana, where a dam built in 1873, is the originating
place of two important canals, the Western Yamuna Canal and Eastern Yamuna
Canal, which irrigate the states of Haryana and Uttar Pradesh. I do recollecting
seen a railway station by name Yamuna nagar ( Route I do not recollect now)

The Western Yamuna Canal (WYC) crosses Yamuna Nagar, Karnal and Panipat before
reaching the Haiderpur treatment plant, which supplies part of municipal water
supply to Delhi, further it also receives wastewater from Yamuna Nagar and
Panipat cities.

Yamuna is replenished again after this by seasonal streams and groundwater
accrual, in fact during the dry season, it remains dry in many stretches from
Tajewala till Delhi, where it enters near Pella village after traversing 224 km.

6. Yamuna Boarder river between Haryana and UP
The Yamuna also creates natural state borders between the Himachal Pradesh and
Uttarakhand states, and further down between the state of Haryana and Uttar
Pradesh.

7. Basmathi rice

Along with Ganga to which run almost parallel after it touches the Indo-Gangetic
plain, the largest alluvial fertile plain in the world, it creates the
Ganga-Yamuna Doab region spread across 69,000 km2, one-third of the entire
plain, and today known for its agricultural outputs, prominent among them is the
cultivation of Basmati Rice. The plain itself supports one-third of India's
population through its farming

May I continue with PRAYAG (Allahabad Triveni ) in my NEXT POSTING?

NARMADA SINDHU KAVERI
GODAVRI NAMOSTHUTHAE 24

I am continuing under the same title since many members responded expressing the desire to post about other rivers also and felt the title very impressive. This is 3RD and final part of the posting about River YAMUNA.

18. Yamuna through history- Pataliputhra

The importance of the Ganga-Yamuna river basin, and the Doab region as traditional the seat of power, can be derived from the fact, in much of early history of India, most of great empires, which ruled over majority of India, until the Chalukyas King, Vinayaditya, were based in the highly fertile Ganga-Yamuna basin, including the Magadha (ca 600 BC), Maurya Empire (321-185 BC), Sunga Empire (185-73 BCE), Kushan Empire (1st–3rd centuries CE), Gupta Empire (280–550 CE), and many had their capitals here, in cities like Pataliputra or Mathura. These rivers were revered throughout these kingdoms that flourished on their banks, in fact ever since the period of Chandragupta II (r. 375-415 CE), statues both Ganga and Yamuna became common throughout the Gupta Empire.

Further to the South, images of Ganga and Yamuna are found amidst shrines of the Chalukyas, Rashtrakutas (753–982), as well as on their royal seals, and prior to them, the Chola Empire too added the river into their architectural motifs. The Three River Goddess shrine, next of famous Kailash rock-cut Temple at Ellora, built by Rashtrakuta King, Govinda III, shows Ganga flanked by the Yamuna and Saraswati.

19. Krishna –Mythology

The goddess of the river, also known as Yami, is the sister of Yama, god of death, and the daughter of Surya, the Sun god, and his wife Samjñā. The river Yamuna is also connected to the religious beliefs surrounding Krishna, the Krishnaism, and various stories connected with Him are found in Hindu mythology, especially the Puranas, like that of Kaliya Mardanam, the subduing of Kaliya, a poisonous Nāga snake, which had inhabited the river and terrorized the people of Vraja.

20. Yamuna water Management

The stretch of the river form its origin to Okhla in Delhi is called "Upper Yamuna". A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed amongst the five basin states, namely Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarankhand, Haryana, Rajasthan and Delhi, on 12 May, 1994 for sharing of the water of Upper Yamuna. This led to the formation of Upper Yamuna River Board under Ministry of Water Resources, whose primary functions are regulation of the allocation of available flows amongst the beneficiary states, maintaining hydro-meteorological data for the basin; over viewing plans for watershed management; monitoring and reviewing the progress of all projects up to and including Okhla barrage etc.

20.1 Flood warning arrangement

Flood forecasting systems are established at Poanta Sahib, where Tons, Pawar and Giri tributaries meet, followed by Tajewala, Kalanaur, Haryana and Mawai before Delhi, the river take 60 hours to travel from Tajewala to Delhi, thus allowing a two-day advance flood warning period The Central Water Commission started flood-forecasting services in 1958 with the setting up of its first forecasting station on Yamuna at Delhi Railway Bridge.

21. Geography and Wildlife

River Yamuna has a rich flora and fauna around it and shelters various wild animals. The catchments area of the river, especially till its touches the plains, is replete with Alpine, semi alpine, temperate and sub-tropical vegetation, and vast areas are under forest cover, and supports extensive animal life.

Yamuna is the frontier of the Asian Elephant. West of the Yamuna, there are no elephants to be found over 900 km of the western Himalayas and their foothills. The forests of the lower Yamuna offer ideal corridors for elephant movement.

The principal forests to be found here are of sal , khair (acacia) , and sissoo (rosewood) trees, and the Chir Pine forests of the Shivalik Hills.

21. Yamuna more sacred than Ganges?
There are some evidences indicating Yamuna was a tributary of the Sarasvati river in the ancient past. It changed its course to east following a tectonic event in north India and became a tributary of the Ganges instead.

Yamuna according to Hindu Mythology is considered to be more sacred than Ganges since Lord Krishna use to play nears the Yamuna.

22. Yamuna –Pollution

There are some very important points worth mentioning about pollution control measures and as such I am just briefing them.

The water of Yamuna is of "reasonably good quality" through its length from Yamunotri in the Himalayas to Wazirabad in Delhi, about 375 km. The pollution starts from Wazirabad , where the discharge of wastewater through 15 drains between Wazirabad barrage and Okhla barrage renders the river more polluted .

The Imperial Gazetteer of India, 1909 mentions, the waters of Yamuna distinguishable as "clear blue" as compared to silt-ridden yellow of the Ganges. However, due to high density population growth, rapid industrialization, today Yamuna is one of the most polluted rivers in the world, especially around New Delhi, the capital of India, which dumps about 58% of its waste into the river.

Though numerous attempts have been made to clean it, the efforts have proven not much effective . The Government of India has spent nearly $500 million to clean up the river, the river continues to be polluted with garbage while most sewage treatment facilities are under funded or malfunctioning.

The main reason being , the water in this river remains stagnant for almost 9 months in a year aggravating the situation. Delhi alone contributes around 3,296 MLD (million litres per day) of sewage in the river. The government of India over the next five years has prepared plans to rebuild and repair the sewage system and the drains that empty into the river. To address river pollution, certain measures of cleaning river have been taken by the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) of the Government of India (GOI) in 12 towns of Haryana, 8 towns of Uttar Pradesh, and Delhi under an action plan (Yamuna Action Plan-YAP) which is being implemented since 1993 by the National River Conservation Directorate (NRCD) of the Ministry of Environment and Forests. The Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) is participating in the Yamuna Action Plan in 15 of the above 21 towns (excluding 6 towns of Haryana included later on the direction of Supreme Court of India) with soft loan assistance of 17.773 billion Japanese Yen (equivalent to about Rs. 700 crore INR) while GOI is providing the funds for the remaining 6 towns added later. The Indian government's plans to repair sewage lines are predicted to improve the water quality of the river 90% by the year 2010.

However in 2009, the Union government admitted to the Lok Sabha (Indian Parliament), the failure of Ganga Action Plan (GAP) and Yamuna Action Plan (YAP), saying that "rivers Ganga and Yamuna are no cleaner now than two decades ago" despite spending over Rs 1,700 crore to control pollution.

According to a CSE official these plans adopted the Thames model, which based on a centralized sewage treatment system, this meant that huge sum of money and a 24-hr power supply were needed to manage the treatment plants, while only 8-hr power supply was available, contributing to their failure.

In August 2009, he Delhi Jal Board (DJB) initiated its plan for resuscitating the Yamuna's 22-km stretch in Delhi by constructing interceptor sewers, at the cost of about Rs 1,800 crore.

The cities of Delhi, Mathura and Agra lie on its banks. The river passes through Dehra dun.

19. Yamuna -Irrigation

The importance of Yamuna in the Indo-Gangetic Plains is enhanced by its many canals, some dating back to as early as 14th century

The Tughlaq dynasty built the Nahr-i-Bahisht (Paradise), parallel to the river and it was later renovated and extended by the Mughals in the first half of seventeenth century, by engineer Ali Mardan Khan, starting from Benawas where the river enters the plains and terminating near the Mughal capital, Shahjahanabad, the present city of Delhi .

As the Yamuna enters the Northern plains near Dak Pathar at a height of 790 meters, two canals namely, the Eastern and Western Yamuna Canals commence from the Assan barrage about 11 kilometers from Dak Pathar in Doon Valley, the canals irrigate vast tracts of lands in the region, then it passes Delhi to Agra.

20 Tajmahal

Yamuna feeds the Agra Canal built in 1874, which starts from Okhla barrage beyond the Nizamuddin bridge, and the high land between the Khari-Nadi and the Yamuna and before joining the Banganga river about 20 miles below Agra. Thus during the summer season, the stretch above Agra resembles a minor stream. We have our Tajmahal in Agra on the banks of Yamuna.

21.Sutlej-Yamuna Link

A heavy freight canal, known as the Sutlej-Yamuna Link (SYL), is being built ( No updating I could receive about completion) westwards from near its headwaters through the Punjab region near an ancient caravan route and highlands pass to the navigable parts of the Sutlej-Indus watershed. This will connect the entire Ganges, which flows to the east coast of the subcontinent, with points west (via Pakistan).

When completed, the SYL will allow shipping from India's east coast to the west coast and the Arabian sea, drastically shortening shipping distances and creating important commercial links for north-central India's large population. The canal starts near Palla village near Delhi. Though Haryana has completed Punjab is against its construction, and the state legislature passed the "Punjab Termination of Agreement Act 2004", which declared earlier agreements null and void .

 

knr

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