A "teardrop on the cheek of time” is how Rabindranath Tagore wanted to remember the Taj Mahal. The 'teardrop' could also be a metaphor used by the poet to represent the tragedy that befell Shah Jahan as he spent his last days in captivity, gazing at the mausoleum sadly and its reflection in the Yamuna.
The Yamuna is an integral part of the Taj’s design and there was no anticipation that it would dry or become narrow in the future. But the river has narrowed and it is also polluted. A polluted and narrower Yamuna could promote the disintegration of the wooden foundations on which the Taj Mahal was built.
Thus, to retain the structural integrity of the Taj Mahal, a free-flowing Yamuna in its original form is a must. A free-flowing, unpolluted Yamuna is also paramount to the welfare and health of millions dependent on its services.
The Yamuna River, a tributary of the Ganga, which many Indians consider a Goddess, originating from the Yamamori glacier in the Garhwal Himalayas, has become the most polluted as it approaches the surroundings of Delhi, which contributes about 76 per cent of the river's pollution, Frothing of the Yamuna has become a yearly phenomenon near Delhi where two governments are in power. Thousands of crores of rupees have already been spent on cleaning the river.
Since last week, the parts of the Yamuna River in Delhi have again been covered with a thick layer of white foam, posing health hazards for people, especially as the festive season approaches, a double whammy as the capital city, ranked as the most polluted city in the world, is battling the air pollution, too. Chhath Puja, to be celebrated on 5 November, this year, requires the devotees to take a dip in the river now appears hampered because of the state of the river.
This takes us back to Victor Mallet’s question in his book on the River Ganga, River of Life, River of Death:how can a river be worshipped by so many Indians and simultaneously abused by the same people? Despite the Indians' civilisational attachment to the river goddesses, they have dirtied the waters, finding themselves almost at a point of no return. One stark truth, with a direct consequence for the river flow, is that the mother source of all great Himalayan rivers, including the Yamuna, the Himalayan glaciers are also drying up, partly accelerated by anthropogenic activities in the mountains.
The untreated garbage spewed from the hotels into the waters, and unauthorised constructions threaten the river. Any laws introduced to restrict such building activities will ultimately be diluted under pressure. The untreated discharge is directly pumped into the river.
The pesticides used for farming also leak into the river, leading to eutrophication, enriched in nutrients that promote invasive plants and algal blooms. The urgency in sanitation efforts is becoming increasingly obvious because these rivers are host to very potent bacterial genes, exposing millions of water users of the villagers in the downstream parts to the risk of infections resistant to antibiotics.