Dear Brijbasis and friends of Vrindavan
The widened channel with some influx of fresh water. The pillars in the background remain from the ill-fated flyover project. There are still many in Vrindavan who want it to be completed.
New hope has come to bless us. Much has happened in the 30 years ago since the meeting was held in which Sewak Sharan and other established citizens of Vrindavan first proposed a master plan to save the holy city, in which a channel was to be made to bring the Yamunaji back to the old ghats.
The master plan was ignored by the government and also by many private undertakings that destroyed the green-belt idea by constructing madly all the way to Kikkinagla and the Delhi-Agra road. These new colonies are pumping out water from deep underground, resulting in the drying out of many old wells. And for years all the materials from broken buildings have just been dumped in front of the Yamuna ghats to the point that today a new road is being built on all these old bricks.
One of the biggest problems of Vrindavan is the total ignorance of all who throw plastic into the nalis which end up choking the entire system. That has to be stopped at any cost. We kill the rivers in that way. And without clean rivers our health will be seriously harmed.
The current undertaking to bring back Sri Yamunaji water flow to the old channel which is filled every year during the flood season gives us a little chance to beautify Vrindavan again. To raise the awareness that we can and must take action to improve the situation with or without the help of the government.
Vrindavan's boats.
The work of 100 workers or so in only 10 days has returned some flow on two sides of Vrindavan. The situation of the Yamuna is far from perfect. Our work has to go all the way to Yamunotri if we want to save ourselves from the great offense of abusing the holy lifeline river which made India famous together with mother Ganga — which is in a similar plight.
But in Vrindavan we all can bring about a major change. First we can get enough permanent flow in front of the old ghats to remove the standing dirty nail waters which are seeping into the ground water ever since the ill-conceived ring road flyover in front of the ghats was started. That work was started by bringing millions of sand bags to arrest the flow of the Yamuna in the construction area. This area, amongst others, now has to be dredged to bring back a solid flow of water permitting boats to go up at least as far as the Imlitala mandir.
Further up, illegal constructions on the Yamuna side have already made the Yamuna invisible from the Madan Mohan temple all the way down Imlitala. But now we can start and show how joint enthusiasm can bring about a great change.
Sewage entering the river near Cheer Ghat.
The next obvious step is to create a system of grills that make it impossible of any solid waste of Vrindavan to end up in the Yamuna. And after that, we must take all of the town’s black water through pipers into the area of the Kumbha mela ground or a little beyond and to create a simple sewage treatment plant (STP ) that can be sustainable in a simple way. Many tanks can do that work so that the nali water either goes into the fields after proper purification or returns to the Yamuna to increase the flow again.
All this would have a lower cost than the flyover, an undertaking that started without any plans for the black water and would have the effect driving the Yamuna completely away from Keshi Ghat. Moreover, it would absolve the town of Vrindavan of any accusation that we are also engaged in poisoning the river Yamuna.
Since the civic action has started with enthusiasm thanks to the efforts of Mr. K.P.S. Gill, we can see that waiting for the nonexistent master plan of the MVDA or PWD will never help us. In the meantime, the poison building up in front of Vrindavan is going down into the groundwater and our wells will soon be full of this poison, potentially killing even children and animals.
Volunteers helping dig the new channel.
This is not a joke and not an exaggeration. Any water analysis can confirm this danger. So why are the authorities not taking action? Because they are just busy making plans to spend government funds in projects that channel the money into their own, private pockets. The best example is the useless flyover made in Chaitanya Bihar at the cost of crores of rupees to cross the narrow gauge train line where the single-bogey train bus passes only twice a day in each direction. An ordinary road would have been sufficient, and as a matter of fact, the same train-bus crosses the Parikrama Marg and Gandhi Road without any barrier whatsoever.
Bureaucrats with such a sinful mentality and no concern for the health of our children have condemned themselves already. Only the law of karma can teach them what it means to abuse the trust of the people. But we can protect Vrindavan from our own mistakes and from those made by the authorities. By coming forward with shovels or sending our workers to help drench out this channel to show what every Brijvasi wishes and needs.
It is time for love and action. Seeing children of schools and leaders of many temples come and even join the digging gives truth hope and joy. Safaikrama set for the 29th of February is another chance to bring the message to all. If we keep throwing our trash into the nalis we are all responsible for the death of the hope for a clean Vrindavan.
Water entering the connecting channel from the river is not so pure either.
All leaders of the town are invited to show their understanding about the future of Vrindavan. As in all cities around the world where people abuse the public system and ignore the needs of the town’s population as a whole, there must be fines for violators. That system is not even known in Vrindavan. People can drop their trash anywhere, block the roads anywhere at any time and drive at a high speed threatening lives.
Our neighbor in Vrinda Kunja did Vrindavan parikrama every day until one of the Nagar Palika’s rushing tractors ran over him. He lost his leg and died a few month later. No help came from either the guilty party, the driver, or the Nagar Palika.
Let us all help to make the parikrama a safe trail without tea stalls permitting millions of plastic cups to be littered all over. What is this? This is Dham aparadh. And we have to stop it. No police will do it.
Polyethylene bags are banned but which shop owner cares? The cows are dying from it but you do not see that when you give the clients a plastic bag. But it does go on your karmic record. “Shop owner Mr. … killed a cow by the plastic bag he gave to a client. ” How are you going to explain that to Yamaraj when even the government had already told you that these plastic bags are prohibited?
Please let us all do the job together. Only that way it will change. We need YOU. We love YOU. Radharani has favored all of you who live in or visit Vrindavan. Let us really try to please Her. This letter show a few hints how that can be accomplished.
Thanks for reading and more thanks for helping Vrindavan. Our devotees from South America are living in poor countries but they are so grateful to Vrindavan that they send donations to help in different areas to clean and to beautify Vrindavan. Because the care and mercy of Sri Sri Radha Govindaji and Sri Vrindavan is meant for the uplift of the whole world.
Jai Shri Radhe Shyam!
Your servant
Swami B.A. Paramadvaiti and the Vrinda family
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