By IANS,
Agra : Hundreds of activists and religious leaders joined the Save Yamuna rally here Sunday, shouting slogans and demanding action against those responsible for polluting the river.
The Yamuna Bachao (Save Yamuna) march started by ascetics of Braj Mandal from the Sangam at Allahabad March 2, reached Agra Sunday.
“The sadhus will stay here at Hathi Ghat near the Agra Fort for two days and interact with the local population to work out a programme to save the river,” Supreme Court monitoring committee member D.K. Joshi, who took part in the rally, said.
Environmentalists Ashwini Mishra, Shravan Kumar, Padmini Iyer, Sri Nathji Nishulk Jal Sewa chief Bankey Lal Maheshwari, NGO Sankalp director Ambar Vishal, Shishir Bhagat of Wake Up Agra, Jagriti Yuva Sansthan members, Braj Mandal Heritage Conservation Society activists, Senior journalists, including Rajendra Tripathi, Ravjeev Saxena, Hemendra Chaturvedi, a large number of students and women’s groups also joined the rally.
Municipal Corporation chief Vinay Shankar Pandey announced a programme to clean up the Yamuna ghats, shifting trucks from the Yamuna Kinara road and removing garbage heaps from the river bed.
A 17-point charter of demands presented to the municipal commissioner was read out at the end of the rally.
The rallyists wanted Agra’s share of the Yamuna water fixed, apart from a long-term programme to rejuvenate the dead river.