Braj Vrindavan Heritage Alliance

Pictures of the work in Yamunaji the last days.

-15th January

-14th January

-12th January

We are pleased to invite all of you to participate in the first version of the Vrindavan Safaikrama tobe held on 28th February to 1st March. Come (or support) and help to keep Sri Vrindavan Dham green and clean

Please see the pdf on below for more information

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More information very soon

A machine does the work of many men. It has easily doubled the width of the hand-dug trench.

The widened channel is now only 100 meters away from the pillars of the uncompleted bridge. The hope is that the greater part of the river’s flow will be diverted to Keshi Ghat.

About 200 laborers are working every day, and a JCB “mahabali” back hoe machine is also on the job.

Workers sandbagging in the early morning. It is getting cool and there is mist until 9 a.m.

Workers filling sandbags.

We will give an updated report shortly, but I think is a good idea to keep everyone aware of the progress that is being made.

Source: VrindavanToday.org.

Dear Brijbasis and friends of Vrindavan

The widened channel with some influx of fresh water. The pillars in the background remain from the ill-fated flyover project. There are still many in Vrindavan who want it to be completed.

New hope has come to bless us. Much has happened in the 30 years ago since the meeting was held in which Sewak Sharan and other established citizens of Vrindavan first proposed a master plan to save the holy city, in which a channel was to be made to bring the Yamunaji back to the old ghats.

The master plan was ignored by the government and also by many private undertakings that destroyed the green-belt idea by constructing madly all the way to Kikkinagla and the Delhi-Agra road. These new colonies are pumping out water from deep underground, resulting in the drying out of many old wells. And for years all the materials from broken buildings have just been dumped in front of the Yamuna ghats to the point that today a new road is being built on all these old bricks.

One of the biggest problems of Vrindavan is the total ignorance of all who throw plastic into the nalis which end up choking the entire system. That has to be stopped at any cost. We kill the rivers in that way. And without clean rivers our health will be seriously harmed.

The current undertaking to bring back Sri Yamunaji water flow to the old channel which is filled every year during the flood season gives us a little chance to beautify Vrindavan again. To raise the awareness that we can and must take action to improve the situation with or without the help of the government.

Vrindavan's boats.

The work of 100 workers or so in only 10 days has returned some flow on two sides of Vrindavan. The situation of the Yamuna is far from perfect. Our work has to go all the way to Yamunotri if we want to save ourselves from the great offense of abusing the holy lifeline river which made India famous together with mother Ganga — which is in a similar plight.

But in Vrindavan we all can bring about a major change. First we can get enough permanent flow in front of the old ghats to remove the standing dirty nail waters which are seeping into the ground water ever since the ill-conceived ring road flyover in front of the ghats was started. That work was started by bringing millions of sand bags to arrest the flow of the Yamuna in the construction area. This area, amongst others, now has to be dredged to bring back a solid flow of water permitting boats to go up at least as far as the Imlitala mandir.

Further up, illegal constructions on the Yamuna side have already made the Yamuna invisible from the Madan Mohan temple all the way down Imlitala. But now we can start and show how joint enthusiasm can bring about a great change.

Sewage entering the river near Cheer Ghat.

The next obvious step is to create a system of grills that make it impossible of any solid waste of Vrindavan to end up in the Yamuna. And after that, we must take all of the town’s black water through pipers into the area of the Kumbha mela ground or a little beyond and to create a simple sewage treatment plant (STP ) that can be sustainable in a simple way. Many tanks can do that work so that the nali water either goes into the fields after proper purification or returns to the Yamuna to increase the flow again.

All this would have a lower cost than the flyover, an undertaking that started without any plans for the black water and would have the effect driving the Yamuna completely away from Keshi Ghat. Moreover, it would absolve the town of Vrindavan of any accusation that we are also engaged in poisoning the river Yamuna.

Since the civic action has started with enthusiasm thanks to the efforts of Mr. K.P.S. Gill, we can see that waiting for the nonexistent master plan of the MVDA or PWD will never help us. In the meantime, the poison building up in front of Vrindavan is going down into the groundwater and our wells will soon be full of this poison, potentially killing even children and animals.

Volunteers helping dig the new channel.

This is not a joke and not an exaggeration. Any water analysis can confirm this danger. So why are the authorities not taking action? Because they are just busy making plans to spend government funds in projects that channel the money into their own, private pockets. The best example is the useless flyover made in Chaitanya Bihar at the cost of crores of rupees to cross the narrow gauge train line where the single-bogey train bus passes only twice a day in each direction. An ordinary road would have been sufficient, and as a matter of fact, the same train-bus crosses the Parikrama Marg and Gandhi Road without any barrier whatsoever.

Bureaucrats with such a sinful mentality and no concern for the health of our children have condemned themselves already. Only the law of karma can teach them what it means to abuse the trust of the people. But we can protect Vrindavan from our own mistakes and from those made by the authorities. By coming forward with shovels or sending our workers to help drench out this channel to show what every Brijvasi wishes and needs.

It is time for love and action. Seeing children of schools and leaders of many temples come and even join the digging gives truth hope and joy. Safaikrama set for the 29th of February is another chance to bring the message to all. If we keep throwing our trash into the nalis we are all responsible for the death of the hope for a clean Vrindavan.

Water entering the connecting channel from the river is not so pure either.

All leaders of the town are invited to show their understanding about the future of Vrindavan. As in all cities around the world where people abuse the public system and ignore the needs of the town’s population as a whole, there must be fines for violators. That system is not even known in Vrindavan. People can drop their trash anywhere, block the roads anywhere at any time and drive at a high speed threatening lives.

Our neighbor in Vrinda Kunja did Vrindavan parikrama every day until one of the Nagar Palika’s rushing tractors ran over him. He lost his leg and died a few month later. No help came from either the guilty party, the driver, or the Nagar Palika.

Let us all help to make the parikrama a safe trail without tea stalls permitting millions of plastic cups to be littered all over. What is this? This is Dham aparadh. And we have to stop it. No police will do it.

Polyethylene bags are banned but which shop owner cares? The cows are dying from it but you do not see that when you give the clients a plastic bag. But it does go on your karmic record. “Shop owner Mr. … killed a cow by the plastic bag he gave to a client. ” How are you going to explain that to Yamaraj when even the government had already told you that these plastic bags are prohibited?

Please let us all do the job together. Only that way it will change. We need YOU. We love YOU. Radharani has favored all of you who live in or visit Vrindavan. Let us really try to please Her. This letter show a few hints how that can be accomplished.

Thanks for reading and more thanks for helping Vrindavan. Our devotees from South America are living in poor countries but they are so grateful to Vrindavan that they send donations to help in different areas to clean and to beautify Vrindavan. Because the care and mercy of Sri Sri Radha Govindaji and Sri Vrindavan is meant for the uplift of the whole world.

Jai Shri Radhe Shyam!

Your servant

Swami B.A. Paramadvaiti and the Vrinda family

The meeting of the BVHAlliance in Pandavali Kunja was very successful. It was a re-start after a period of some confusion which has held back the full impact of the Braj Vrindavan Heritage Alliance. Without going to any details, it was decided in this meeting to form a new interim group of organizers headed by Partha Sarthy as an secretary, Madan Bihari Das Baba as a harmonizing secretary and Man Mohan Parik as a communicational secretary. It was also accepted that Mr. K.P.S. Gill should be considered an adviser for the Braj Vrindavan Heritage Alliance.

The main topic of the day where the disappearance of the documents which came from the DM of Mathura regarding the water situation of Vrindavan, which had not been procured so far; Madan Bihari Das Baba took responsibility to approach Srivatsa Goswamiji for the documents which was handed over to Madan Bihari originally by the DM. This document was considered essential in order to understand the idea of the Braj Vrindavan Heritage Alliance Master Plan for improving and encouraging participation of the individual parts of Vrindavan in the work of the Alliance.

It was also accepted that a new section of the BVHAlliance web page should include any contribution of any part who is doing something to improve the situation in Vrindavan or to give a great variety of services to the community.
In this way, the web site of the BVHAlliance is supposed to be a site of reports on what has been appreciated by the members of the alliance. The web secretary continues the same service as previously with Gandharvika Devi Dasi, who has volunteer from the beginning of the Alliance.

The place Pandavali Kunja, which also is the place of the office of the alliance, has been appreciated as a contribution of Gopinath Gaudiya Math to the alliance free of cost, so that all documentation can be keep safe locked and some meetings can be conducted in this place. It was also concluded that the alliance wants to utilize different the NGO´s whenever financial contribution come or some particular job with legal background has to be resolved, rather than establishing a several registration. Reason for that is that the members of the members of the Alliance wants to act as a brahminical counsel of Vrindavan rather than an executing body which is naturally subjected to criticism and suspicion by different people. In this way, was once again confirm that the Alliance will continue in a non-registered and informal Alliance of those who are worshipers of Vrindavan and Yamuna and who want to make some sacrifice to improve
the environmental situation.

It was also concluded in the meeting that we continue to have the venue of our meetings in different places, specifically next meeting was invited by Radha Gopinath Mandir of Raja Goswami, which will be held on 5th of December.

It was also agreed the point that the tendency of uncivilized behavior in the meetings by speaking without be approbation and appoint by the chairman of the meeting must stop from now on, because that has been a disturb from the previous meetings and distracted from the real purpose of the alliance. It was greatly appreciated the contribution from Vrinda Kunja math of simultaneously translation equipment where whatever was spoken either in hindi or English was translated to those who don´t speak the language, so the meeting can flow without any obstruction of language difficulties. Vrinda Kunja promised to keep supplying this technology for the future meetings.

Many members of the Alliance are actually powerful groups of activities in Vrindavan and many other groups, not very intimated connected with the alliance yet, are also doing substantial work; so we want to continue and try to encourage the service to the Dham.

Prem Prajojanath prabhu from Ananda Dham Vrindavan, wants to clean Javat and Purnamasis cave, Terkadamba and Nanda Gao in general.

On the another hand, Sripad BhaktiVedanta Sadhu Maharaja from Mungeer Mandir  sugested that cleanliness should be distrubute by regions for those who are ready to do somethe ing.

Next BVHAlliance meeting will be held on Sunday 13th November of 2011 at Pandavali Kunj, near Jugal Kishor Mandir, please join us to make plans for Sri Vrindavan Dham.

Mathura (2011.06.26) VT:

As a followup to the District Magistrate’s invitation earlier this month, the Braj-Vrindavan Heritage Alliance brought a group of professors and students from the prestigious School of Planning and Architecture, including its director, Prof. A.K. Sharma, to discuss the current situation in Vrindavan development plans.

Earlier this month, a delegation from the Braj-Vrindavan Heritage Alliance met the Mathura District Magistrate to express its anguish over the present condition of Vrindavan. The delegation informed the District Magistrate that the sewage line being laid by the Jal Nigam (Waterworks Dep’t) is a disaster for Vrindavan. The delegation raised serious doubt on the quality of the work being done by the government agency. The District Magistrate was intimated that there was no need of laying the sewerage line 30 feet deep in the ground on the Parikrama Marg which is on the Yamuna flood plain.

Although the Yamuna, which is the lifeline of Braj-Vrindavan is completely polluted, the river has still been recharging Vrindavan’s underground water. At least the Brajvasis could access pure potable underground water. But the new sewage plan could lead to disaster as any leak or seepage would pollute the underground water.

The Alliance further raised concern over the storm water drains being built in the town where in many cases as much as a third of the breadth of a road is being used to make big drains. Experience shows that these drains are never cleaned by the municipal workers and become filled with detritus, meaning that ultimately they will be the cause of flooding.

The District Magistrate gave a patient hearing to the delegation and promised to act on the issues raised by the BVHA. Simultaneously he asked the BVHA members to approach some good planner who could come to Mathura and study the plan made by the government departments. Their comments would be incorporated to improve the existing plan and the rest of the development project would be implemented accordingly.

BVHA approached the highly prestigious planning institution the School of Planning and Architecture to kindly visit Mathura to have a meeting with the officials. SPA director Professor A.K. Sharma kindly gave consent to visit the Mathura DM along with his team. Professor Sharma came with the head of some important departments of the SPA to attend the meeting at the conference room at the Collectorate in Mathura. Prof. Sharma was accompanied by the Head of the Department of Architecture Prof. Nalini Thakur, Shri Suresh Chandra Goyal, and Sharad Chandra.

The meeting was chaired by the Mathura District Magistrate Shri N.G. Ravikumar. Present were the Additional District Magistrate Avdhesh Tiwari, City Magistrate Ram Avtar Raman, the Chief Engineers of the Mathura Vrindavan Development Authority and U.P. Jal Nigam, Mathura, the Executive Officers of Mathura and Vrindavan Municipality, the Project Managers of the Larsen and Taurbo and J.P. Group along with the delegates from the Braj-Vrindavan Heritage Alliance.

The BVHA delegation led by Shri Madan Bihari Das raised the issues of the illegal construction on the Yamuna flood plain, the poor quality of sewage laying and the flaws in its planning, the unnecessary storm water drains built under the development plans and the damage done to the steps of the ghats while digging to make the drains.

The Chief Engineer of sewage from the U.P. Jal Nigam said that there was no flaw in the planning and it is the people who misuse the government facility. He pointed out that government built the drains and the people fill it by throwing the garbage in it. Thus the water overflows on the road. The BVHA delegates strongly objected and said that it is the duty of the Municipality to provide the garbage dumping facilities to the people. They said if an alternative is provided no one will put the garbage in the drains.

Prof. A.K. Sharma said that the infrastructure of the small town should be managed on micro level and the CDP master plan should be made keeping the view of the heritage and culture of these towns. The standard designs made for metropolitan areas or big towns cannot be implemented for smaller towns.

Prof. Nalini Thakur pointed out that Vrindavan is famous as sacred town but by just saying it is sacred is not enough, it needs to have certain qualifying criteria so that people can feel it is sacred. Any development plan should be made in order to conserve the heritage of Vrindavan.

Lack of coordination among the departments could clearly be observed during the meeting. It still seems that there is no comprehensive master plan for the whole town. The work of each department is being overlapped by another.

Finally it was decided that the master plan and C.D.P. will be sent to the SPA director and that a team will again visit Vrindavan and evaluate the work done so far. The District Magistrate Shri N.G. Ravikumar said that all the suggestions to be made by the SPA will be used to amend the master plan made by the departments.

A delegation of the Braj-Vrindavan Heritage Alliance led by Shri Madan Bihari Dasji met the District Magistrate of Mathura, Shri N.G. Ravikumar, to present a memorandum on the laying of 25 foot deep sewage line in the Vrindavan, Parikrama Marg. The delegation communicated the BVHA’s concern that the sewage line near Kalidaha on the Parikrama Marg.

They noted that while underground water can only be found at a depth of 15 feet, it would be disastrous if the potable water were to be contaminated in the areas where the sewage line is being laid. The Yamuna, which has been Vrindavan’s lifeline for centuries, is now polluted. If the ground water is polluted, this will cause trouble for everyone. Access to pure drinking water is a fundamental human right.

The District Magistrate asked the delegation to find independent civil engineers who can go through the project plan and find flaws in it. The D.M. said he would welcome any expert comment on this issue and will organize V.I.P. treatment to any independent engineer who comes from outside to evaluate the plan.

Subsequently, the BVHA core-members decided to request the School of Planning and Architecture in Delhi to study the government plan and comment on it.

The delegation comprised of Madan Bihari Das, Naresh Narain, Ram Narain Brajwasi, Chandra Lal Sharma, Jagannath Poddar, Shri Krishna Saras, Vishnu Pada Das, and Madhumangal Shukla..

The delegation met the D.M. following the decision made in the general meeting of the BVHA. Addressing the gathering Baba Sohani Sharan ji Maharaj, currently in-charge of Shri Radha Bawri, said that the saints of Vrindavan took many initiatives of water conservation, but the blind race for development has destroyed our water culture. Shri Radha Bawri is one of such initiatives taken in the past.

Shri Radhe Shyam Beriwala, a prominent social worker, said that the 25 feet deep sewerage line laying in the Parikrama Marg by the government will bring disaster for Vrindavan. The Yamuna which is used to be life line for Vrindavan is already polluted now there is preparation to spoil the underground water.

BVHA convener Shri Bal Krishna Gautam said that the area where the sewage line is being laid is on the Yamuna flood plain, therefore underground water is available in ten feet deep. BVHA assistant convener Acharya Naresh Narain said that hand pumps in that locality are already pumping out water mixed with the sewage as the sewage treatment plant built nearby under the Yamuna Action Plan has already been spoiling ground water from before. So the whole scenario is a complete disaster.

BJP city president Shri Krishna Saras said that a memorandum has already been presented to the Divisional Commissioner of Agra on this issue, but no action has been taken so far on it. Dr. Chandra Prakash Sharma and Ram Narain Brajwasi from the Panda Sabha said that this is the time to save Vrindavan or we will only read about this holy town in religious books.

Many others also addressed this meeting and it was unanimously decided that the delegation led by Shri Madan Bihari Baba should be sent to meet the District Magistrate with the memorandum.

Just off the Mathura Road, a few hundred meters down the Gurukula Marg, one comes to the Radha Bawri ashram, which is run by the Haridasi sampradaya based in Tatia Sthan. They own at least five acres of land, which they preserve in a traditional manner. They have a goshala and have also been planting a lot of trees lately. There are many peacocks, koils and other birds that are rarely seen in the Vrindavan of today.

This place is the site of Haridas Swami’s birth. The actual name of the village is Rajpur. A bawri is a walk-in well. Unfortunately, the water in this well doesn’t look particularly clean these days. The surrounding area is typical old Vrindavan, though the greedy eye of developers and land-mafia types seems to be on it. For more pictures, see this Facebook album.