The Taj Mahal, a 17th-century monument to love, has experienced its first Yamuna water contact in roughly 40 years! Tour guide Ved Gautam said, “Long ago, perhaps 40 years ago, the river used to flow touching the foundation of the edifice and that probably kept the moisture level in the wells stable.” However, over time, he said, Archaeological Survey of India officials disregarded this fact and created an artificial park, further separating the river from the main building.
Since then, crowds of people in Taj City have gathered along the expansive riverbank to witness the extraordinary spectacle of the river in full spate as it bursts its banks and breaches the expanding floodplains.
Old-timers like Goswami Nandan Shrotriya, a priest at the Sri Mathuradheesh temple on the Yamuna, recalled an adage that read: “The river never forgets its original course and once in a while does revisit it, as is currently happening.”
Authorities in the district reported on Tuesday morning that the river’s water level had exceeded the medium flood limit of 499.0 feet. The high flood level is 508.0 feet for reference. The Okhla barrage and the Gokul barrage near Mathura produced fewer discharges. By Wednesday morning, the water level in Agra could still rise by another foot.
While individuals whose homes were submerged by floodwater have suffered horrible fates, the River Connect Campaign volunteers in Agra appear delighted and joyful since they saw a sort of nemesis in the current situation.
According to environmentalist Dr. Devashish Bhattacharya, the flood plains of the river from Delhi to Agra have been encroached upon for many years. Colonies had sprung up illegally on the banks of the rivers in Vrindavan, Mathura, and Agra, and temples, hotels, and opulent houses had practically blocked the river, turning it into a sewage canal.
Even the National Green Tribunal, which dispatched six expert teams to demarcate the Agra flood flats, was unable to clear the river of encroachments.
Thousands of homes, colonies, and multi-story buildings would have to be torn down if the 1978 floods had been used as the yardstick to establish the border. According to river campaigner Jagan Nath Poddar of Vrindavan, however, the politicians lack the motivation to alienate their support bases. The Yamuna has overflowed Parikrama Marg in Vrindavan, which leads to the Ishrat Ghat and Dwarkadheesh Temple in Mathura. As they help remove trash and debris from the river banks, the flood waters are bringing comfort and happiness. Due to water entering its main structure, the Kailash temple in Agra has been shut down. Due to water, the Taj viewpoint next to Mehtaab Bagh is not accessible to visitors. Tourists and residents alike are enjoying the flooding despite their fears and uncertainties, saying that nature has de-silted and cleaned the river. In order to clear the flood plains and let the river flow freely, river activists Chaturbhuj Tiwari and Padmini Iyer warn that the increased frequency of severe rains is predicted due to global warming.
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