If the planners wish to follow ancient wisdom, then the Ganga and other rivers have decided their territory for them to earmark, and not encroach.

According to the Brihaddharma Purana (Page 322), four days before Janmashtami, the extent of water of the Ganga should be considered as its womb, Nadi Garbha. The river flows at its peak (in general) and defines the river corridor. The two-kos kshetra (about six kilometres) all around the river bank is the floodplain devoid of all sins and no activity should be allowed in this flow path, according to the religious text.

Would planners follow their own scriptures to avert disaster in a state headed by a monk chief minister Yogi Adityanath, who is passionately pursuing his dream project of building religious circuits and corridors in Uttar Pradesh. Environmentalists feel the CM, well-versed in scriptures, would understand the need to follow ancient wisdom. While announcing a 30,000-crore master plan for Mathura, CM had said the “double-engine” government was committed to uninterrupted flow of a clean and pure Yamuna.

Significantly, on March 21, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) while hearing a case on the demarcation of flood plain zone of Yamuna falling in Delhi from Wazirabad to Palla (a stretch of 22 km) had ruled: “The river Yamuna being tributary of Ganga, the floodplain corresponding to its greatest flow or with a flood frequency once in 100 years, is required to be demarcated.”

The river’s fury spares none

Close to the Sangam, the confluence of the Ganga, the Yamuna and mythical Saraswati in Prayagraj, stands the majestic Allahabad Fort, built by Mughal Emperor Akbar in 1583, where one of the oldest temples of Vishnu, Patalpuri, is situated. This underground temple is never submerged by floods.

On the other side of the Sangam, there is a famous Hanuman temple. It is perhaps the only temple in the world in which the idol of........

© hindustantimes