For preserving Yamuna, build a sense of 'ownership' among public: Monitoring committee on cleaning
New Delhi, Dec 23 : A committee overseeing the cleaning of Yamuna has stressed the need to raise awareness about the importance of the river and its floodplain so that a sense of "ownership" is created among the people and it is preserved.
The monitoring committee, that was set up by the National Green Tribunal Chairperson Justice A K Goel in July, has suggested forming a nodal agency for the task.
"Presently, there is no ownership of the river Yamuna. That is because it means nothing to the citizens as it is providing no opportunity for cultural activities, leisure or recreation," it said.
There needs to be awareness about why the flood plains are "sacrosanct they need conservation", it has observed.
The committee comprises retired expert member B S Sajwan and former Delhi chief secretary Shailaja Chandra and it has been directed to submit an action plan and detailed report on cleaning of the river by December 31. The committee has submitted the details to the Delhi government.
In the action plan, the committee has also noted that involvement of citizens requires that there is knowledge of why the river is important and why it is worth preserving and restoring.
"There is a need to plan for awareness building and permissible activities beyond the flood plains but for that there needs to be a nodal department to build awareness by spearheading permissible events and activities," the committee has said.
It has noted that except at the time of idol immersion during Ganesh and Durga Puja festivals, the river has no human activity which could enhance its habitat.
It said that Yamuna is a unique birding destination and there is a need for the Delhi Development Authority to preserve the birding hot spots with inputs from an established birder group.
"There is a need for assigning nodal responsibility for creating public awareness to a consortium of agencies with an interest which can include international an national level NGOs engaged in building awareness about the environment," it said.
The monitoring committee has also urged the Delhi chief secretary to encourage programmes that prevent dung from dairies going into the river. Installing a biogas plant for making gas out of dung instead of letting it flow into drains at Ghazipur would make a visible impact, it argued.
"Technology for this is available too and can become an interesting school field trip too," it added.
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KKR defeat LSG via Super Over
Lucknow (PTI): Kolkata Knight Riders edged Lucknow Super Giants via Super Overs in a battle between two bottom-placed teams in the IPL, here on Sunday.
Chasing a modest 156, LSG suffered a batting collapse and managed to tie the contest and take it to Super Over with No. 9 Mohammed Shami striking a last-ball six against a wayward Kartik Tyagi, who leaked 16 runs in the final over.
But Sunil Narine bowled a stunning Super Over conceding just one run and taking two wickets to give KKR an easy target.
Rinku Singh then finished the chase with a boundary off first ball from Prince Yadav.
Earlier the KKR were in deep trouble with 93/7 in 15 overs but Rinku smashed a sensational 83 not out from 51 balls including four sixes in a row in the final over to lift them to 155/7.
Cameron Green (34) was the only other batter to reach double-digit scores as KKR suffered a familiar batting meltdown with Mohsin taking his maiden fifer.
In reply, LSG continued their dismal show with the bat to succumb to their fifth loss in a row.
Brief Scores:
Kolkata Knight Riders 155/7; 20 overs (Rinku Singh 83 not out, Cameron Green 34; Mohsin Khan 5/23). Lucknow Super Giants 155/8; 20 overs (Rishabh Pant 42). KKR won via Super Over.
