DELHI YAMUNA RIVER

PUSHPANJALI PRAWAHA

A CAMPAIGN FOR ENVIRONMENTAL CONSERVATION

Mr.Gopi Dutt Akash

Proposal

March 2010

New Delhi

TITLE: Setting up of Pushpanjali Prawaha Patras (collection boxes) to curtail the problem of river Pollution caused by disposal of Worship Materials.

Background

Yamuna is unfortunately one of the most polluted rivers in the world, especially in the banks near New Delhi, the capital of India. Almost 58%of the city’s waste is dumped into the river. Though numerous attempts have been made to clean it, the efforts have proven to be futile. India is a very religious country and idol worship is common in this country which is done by offering prayers with flowers, food (bhog), garlands and many more things. These offerings to god are often discarded into the river once they wilt, which in turn they decays causing pollution of the water bodies.

Pushpanjali Prawaha is an unique initiative undertaken by Youth Fraternity Foundation with an exclusive mission of “Facilitating National Development with complete Environment Sustainability”. YFF believes in the cycle of creation, perfection and destruction. Under this initiative, the flowers that are discarded after they are offered with great devotion at the feet of deities in temples or used as decoration to enhance a ritual, are collected and recycled further for various uses. This is done with the intention to mitigate pollution in the water bodies like the River Yamuna, which has been Iin recent years converted into a dirty stinking stream of muck by continuous indifference.

GOALS AND OBJECTIVES

The major goal of the project is to provide an objective means to assess, shield, control and mitigate the Pollution of the rivers caused by disposal, by setting up Pushpanjali Prawaha Patras (a waste collection box) in and around delhi in order to collect the discarded worship and ceremonial materials (flowers, garlands,poly bags etc) and to provide employment and education to the poor children by engaging them in activities of social cause.

OBJECTIVES

ü To control the contamination of the river like Yamuna created by disposal of waste materials like worship materials and other harmful resources.

ü To generate awareness among the people about harmful effects of the Water Pollution;

ü To encourage people to cooperate in making the river Yamuna free from the pollutants by not throwing the waste materials into it.

ü To encourage people to use the special ‘Pushpanjali Prawaha patras’ to discard the waste flowers, garlands and other worship materials after their respective usage.

ü To seek for children currently engaged in coin collecting & rags picking and ensure employment & education for them

JUSTIFICATION

There is a rampant threat to the Indian rivers due to spiraling urbanization and industrialization. Availability of fresh water has become a vital discussion in today’s century. The interaction between human population and natural environment and related sustainability of water resources is of increasing scientific, societal and political importance. There has severe water crisis in many states within India which is due to mismanagement of water resources. All the major rivers and tributaries across the country have become the victim of (indiscriminate discharge of untreated domestic and industrial effluents, mining and agricultural run-off) point and diffused sources. Vast stretches of many major rivers including Ganga and Yamuna have became virtual sewers and rendered unfit for human use. This situation has evolved despite the huge investments made by subsequent governments in cleaning them up. As a result, our endurance and that of rivers -- is at stake.

Although many efforts have been made to control the pollution of these rivers but it is important to widen the methodologies and streamline all these towards achieving the primary goal. Identification of the type of effluent and adopting a method to control the pollution is the main objective of this project. Disposing of the Worship materials into the river can be minimized by collecting the wastes and recycling them for various useful purposes in the future. The only way to do this is by setting up of the collection Boxes (Prawaha Patras) in respective areas chosen.

BUSINESS PROSPECTIVE

Proposed study herein provides vital information and greater insight into the advantages of the innovative plan adopted to control the pollution particularly in the river bodies. The knowledge and information envisaged to be generated here would serve as blueprint or guideline document for the evaluation of various river clean up or pollution abatement strategies. Since the entire information will be put on the Internet and quarterly Environment magazines, it is made accessible to global audience and immensely benefit the interested groups actively involved in the field of environmental studies and conservation like pollution control boards, other stakeholders like; NGO’s, academic and R&D institutes. Plethora of ideas and feedback information from global audience through Internet not only enriches information and knowledge generated through the present study but also make them part of the study and helps in the collective management of our rivers far more effectively.

EXPECTED ACHIEVEMENTS

1. Employment Opportunity for the youths.

2. Free Education and employment to the orphans,rag pickers, women and senior citizen.

3. Rehabilitation of the River Yamuna and improve the quality of water.

4. Awareness generation among the people to keep the Yamuna clean by not disposing the ceremonial items into it.

5. More usage of the Pushpanjali Prawaha Patras (waste collection boxes).

APPROACH AND STRATEGY

The present study envisages to make use of diverse ways for minimizing the pollution caused by the disposal of the Ceremonial materials (flowers, garlands,poly bags etc). It has intended to enroll many young volunteers to accomplish the diverse tasks of this project. It has considered incorporating the street childrens who engages themselves in rag picking and coin collecting, ensuring employment and education to them by involving them for this social cause. Selection of the areas for setting up these prawaha patras( Waste Collection boxes will be made in consultation with Govt. officials. Information regarding the outcome of this innovative plan will be made available on the Internet through our official website www.yffindia.blogspot.com

DETAILED METHODOLOGY

Methodology involves the following Plans

1. Identification of potential areas through precise enquiry and survey.

2. Investigation of the management of the wastes in those pre identified areas.

3. Construction of Pushpanjali Prawaha Patras(waste collection boxes) in those areas and collection of the waste materials into the respective boxes.

4. Collection of these waste materials will be done by children who are generally rag pickers or coin collectors as they will be given employment and education by the organization at no costs.

5. Recycling of collected waste materials (flowers, garlands,poly bags etc.)

6. Formulation of various ways to create awareness among the people about the harmful effects of river pollution and encourage them to use the Puspanjali Prawaha Patras ( waste collection boxes) and keep the river bodies pollution free.

Information regarding the outcome of this innovative plan will be made available on the Internet through our official website www.yffindia.blogspot.com

Del/07/PPP/2011 May/17/2011

To,

Sir,

Sub: Subject: Soliciting your co-operation in fulfilling our sacred mission of cleaning the Yamuna River.

A plan to clean and stop pollution in Yamuna within 7 months.

My,

Aim is to serve the nation in various ways. You must be aware of the pollution being caused due to the disposal of used flowers and other worship materials in our Holy River Yamuna , and carried by all the rivers of India. Our organization, YFF, has undertaken a project to clean the rivers of INDIA starting with The YAMUNA, which will be starting from Delhi 2011.

We have devised a 3 Point Programme to help clean YAMUNA RIVER in DELHI.

A) To stop people from throwing the Ceremonial flowers / Poly bags etc in YAMUNA River.

B)All things being currently thrown in YAMUNA to be collected & a recycling process to be initiated.

C) To organize children currently engaged in coin collecting & rag picking and give them employment & education.

Sir,

I Gopi Dutt want to draw your attention to problem that Delhi has been facing since as long as 10 yrs now. I am talking about the pollution in Yamuna caused by devotional material, Polybags, Flowers etc. Our govt., different NGOs and now Maharaja Sri Sri Ravi Shankar Ji have put their best efforts to clean up the river.

Sri Sri Maharaja Ji is a spiritual guru he has no desire or want for money or fame. From South Africa to America, Iraq to Kashmir people worship him and follow him. Whole world wants to meet him, seem him and Seek his blessings, still he took over the charge to clean the Yamuna in Delhi from various disposed things. Maharaja Sri did the work with his own hands, he tried cleaning up the river by picking up the disposal on his own. He is the first spiritual guru in the world who left popularity and still tried to clean the Life Line of Delhi – The Yamuna. Do you know why? He did this to awaken Delhi. But did we WAKE UP?

24/4/10 Maharaja Ji finished up his tasks and camps associated with the river and cleaning up river banks. And on 25/4/10 people of Delhi disposed approx. 3,50,000kgs of used hawan samagri, flowers etc. I have some pictures to show this.

On 11 April 2011 NAVRATRAS around 25,000 people will put near about 5 lac kg of sacred material in the Yamuna.

The same way other NGOs, NDTV, the CM of Delhi (Yamuna Mei Jaan Dalo) with various programmes and camps have been trying to clean up the Yamuna but due to lack of a disposal sytempeople still turn to Yamuna for disposing the used materials during pujas into the Yamuna. We need a Disposal System that stops people from throwing these materials in the River. Even though Sri Ravi Shankar Ji tried his best to clean up the river but people still dispose off the samagri and flowers into the river which results that the efforst put in by all the people associated with the cleaning up the River in Vain.

We all have been trying to clean it up for the past 10 yrs but it hasn’t stopped yet. Does anyone have a plan to stop this that here is no further need to clean n re-clean the river? The problem is that we only create awareness that people should not pollute the river but there are no measures taken to stop this pollution.

I have researched about the whole polluting issues for the past 7 years; have also noticed it in 22 different states. I have found the cause and the Solution of the problem. During my research I have met CM’s of different states and 162 MP’s and have brought their attention to the issue. I have also met the religious heads of different religions and they have all agreed upon the solution I have now. According to the time limits and need of the hour. They have found my solution to be the best possible way as there is no other option that stops pollution in as soon as 7 months after being implemented.

In 2006, I met the President APJ Abdul Kalam and the Vice President B.S. Shekhawat and discussed the whole plan with them. The president initiated the project and promised to keep it running believing that this is the only way to save Yamuna.

I have run the plan in small yet different places to check if what I had researched and concluded can be done practically. Thankfully, it was successful everywhere it was implemented.

Now I want to implement the whole plan in the region of Delhi so that we can clean Yamuna and stop it from polluting further in future.

So if you don’t have a plan I have it. I am planning to conduct a 108 days programme called Delhi ki Ganga – Yamuna Mahotsav.

Fresh Air....

Fresh Idea....

Fresh Talent....

Fresh Energy....

I need your support Sir Ji .

Thanking you.

Kind Regards,

Gopi Dutt Akash

98185-92979

President – Youth Fraternity Foundation

Email- yff.india@gmail.com

www.yffindia.blogspot.com ,

www.pushpanjaliprawaha.blogspot.com

our country…a neat and clean country which they dreamt of. Lets join hands for this Noble and Spiritual Mission.

Jai Hind……Jai Hind……….Jai Hind

We have all the arrangements to stop the people from polluting it further. We are really hoping that you will reply to us this time and also help us to save Yamuna & keep the environment Safe and Clean. We have the reason and solution to this problem. With the help of this solution we can put an end to this problem once and for all and people will stop polluting Yamuna.

Thank you.

BASIC DETAILS OF THE PROJECT 1) This project will provide employment to 111 people. 2) The flowers and other items used in pyayers in Homes, Temples, Mosques, Gurudwaras, Public Please, ect. In Delhi which are usually disposed in the Yamuna River, or near road sides or Peepal trees will be then discarded by proper means. 3) The Organization has devised a program by which a permanent remedy to this problem shall be achieved within a DURATION OF 7 MONTHS. 4) Each working member shall be Rewarded with Rs.4000/- and free lunch so as maintain his sincerity and dedication towards the work. 5) The Government is spending crores to eradicate poly-bags and used flowers but has not been able to achieve its goals. We intend to help them and serve the Nation by means of this project.