Yamuna
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Yamuna (Sanskrit: यमुना, sometimes called Jamuna) is a major river of northern India, with a total length of around 1370 km. It is the largest tributary of the Ganga. Its source is at Yamunotri, in the Uttaranchal Himalaya,which is north of Haridwar in the Himalayan Mountains. It flows through the states of Delhi, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, before merging with the Ganges at Allahabad. The cities of Delhi, Mathura and Agra lie on its banks. The major tributaries of this river are the Tons, Chambal, Betwa, Sindh and Ken; with the Tons being the largest. The Yamuna was called Ioames by the ancient Greeks, and Jomanes by the Romans. A canal is currently being built between the Sutlej and Yamuna rivers, known as the SLY (Sutlej-Yamuna Link).
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[edit] Ancient history
There is some evidence indicating Yamuna was a tributary of the Ghaggar river in the ancient past. It changed its course to east following a tectonic event in north India and became a tributary of the Ganges instead.
According to legend the goddess of the river, also known as Yami, is the sister of the Hindu god of death, Yama and the daughter of Surya, the Sun god. The river Yamuna is also connected to the mythology surrounding the Hindu god Krishna.
[edit] Wildlife & surroundings
A little known fact about the Yamuna is that it is the frontier of the Asian Elephant. West of the Yamuna, there are no elephants to be found over 900 km of the western Himalayas and their foothills. The forests of the lower Yamuna offer ideal corridors for elephant movement. The principal forests to be found here are of Sal , Khair (Acacia) , and Sissoo (Rosewood) trees, and the Chir Pine forests of the Shivalik Hills.
[edit] Pollution
Yamuna is one of the most polluted rivers in the world. Especially in New Delhi,the capital of India and the areas near it. Though numerous attempts have been made to clean it, the efforts have proven to be futile. The main reasons for this is due to high density of population living in Delhi, the dumping of untreated water and solid waste into it (mostly illegally), the lax attitude of the government and mismanagement of projects focused at cleaning it. Also the water in this river remains stagnant for almost 9 months in a year aggravating the situation. Delhi alone contributes around 3,296 MLD (million litres per day) of sewage in the river. The Govt. of India over the next five years has prepared plans to rebuild and repair the sewerage system and the drains that empty into the river. To arrest river pollution, certain measures of cleaning river have been taken by the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) of the Government of India (GOI) in 12 towns of Haryana, 8 towns of Uttar Pradesh, and Delhi under an action plan (Yamuna Action Plan-YAP) which is being implemented since 1993 by the National River Conservation Directorate (NRCD) of the Ministry of Environment and Forests. The Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) is participating in the Yamuna Action Plan in 15 of the above 21 towns (excluding 6 towns of Haryana included later on the direction of the honorable Supreme Court of India) with soft loan assistance of 17.773 billion Japanese Yen (equivalent to about Rs. 700 crore INR) while GOI is providing the funds for the remaining 6 towns added later.
In 2005, award winning documentary Jijivisha was made on Yamuna.
[edit] External links
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