ENCROACHMENT on the river bed and polluted water from sewers as well as from industries situated on its banks have posed a threat to the very existence of the river Gomati in Uttar Pradesh. In order to educate people about this threat Lok Bharati conducted a Yatra from Madhautanda, the origin of the river in Pilibhit, to Varanasi, where it merges into the Ganga. Prominent among those who attended the Yatra and educated people on this important issue included Swami Vigyananand Saraswati, Shri Ramesh Bhaiya of Vinoba Sewashram, Shahjahanpur, Dr Narendra Mehrota, a scientist from CDRI, Lucknow, Mahant Ramsevak Das, Acharya Chandrabhushan Tewari, Shri Brijendrapal Singh, organising secretary of Lok Bharati, Shri Jitendra Mohan Gupta, retired engineer from Irrigation Department, Shri Radhekrishna Dube, a forest officer, Dr Vyanktesh Dutta from Ambedkar University, Shri Gopal Mohan Upadhyaya of Gomti Mitra Mandal, and others.
Beginning on March 27 and passing through 13 districts of Uttar Pradesh the Yatra concluded on April 3. It covered the distance of 960 km. During the Yatra special study was conducted about all the 22 tributaries of the Gomati. Over 10,000 people belonging to 250 villages actively participated in the Yatra and expressed full support to the initiative. A total of 30 Gomati Mitra Mandal units were formed in the region and over 350 people offered their services to the cause of the Gomati. (FOC)
