So, a lot has been written about the Art of Living destroying the flood plains of the Yamuna and the river..Let me set the record straight once and for all.
A) Permission was sought by the Art of Living from the Delhi Development Authority. Permission was granted. That is the basic premise of this story. IF permission had not been given, Art of Living would have held its event elsewhere.
B)Art of Living was accused of dumping malba in and around the river and huge diggers were filmed and televised doing the same. Luckily, when the land was being surveyed, photographs of existing malba were taken and sent to the DDA asking them to remove it, in case they permit the event to be held there. The DDA asked AoL to have it removed at their own cost. The diggers that were being shown as Aol dumping malba was in fact AoL removing it. Another misrepresentation.
C) Not a single sack of cement is being used in the construction. So Art of Living cannot be accused of building permanent structures.
D) It is a well known fact that the Yamuna is extremely toxic, polluted and generally filthy. By holding its event there, AoL can hardly be accused of polluting it.
E) Yes, work has been going on to level the ground with PERMISSION. Yes some shrubs were uprooted but no trees were cut. There are exactly four trees in the area whose branches were pruned, which is allowed.
F) The bio diversity of the area being destroyed is yet another tall claim by activists. A three day event, for just four hours each evening can hardly destroy the environment. The Kumbh Mela and Ardh Kumbh Mela have been taking place on the flood plains of the Ganges for centuries. It is five times the size of this event (actually I don't know exactly how many times bigger, but it is huge) and people camp there for two months! Doesn't seem to have affected the biodiversity there!
G) The farmers who grow vegetables in this area were apprised and adequately and amicably compensated for any inconvenience caused to them. Just found out that farming is illegal on the floodplains.
H) Then came the story of the Enzymes that Art of Living was putting into the drain that passed through this land. Activists objected saying how could enzymes be poured into the drain untested. :) Well...10.000 Art of Living volunteers followed the advice of a scientist who taught them how to make a simple enzyme from kitchen waste (fruit-veg peels) which have to remain in 1 Ltr bottles of water for three month and then poured in. The effect is amazing! The foul smell emanating from the drain disappeared, and the noxious gases too.
I) Bold headlines appeared in the newspapers claiming that Art of Living will be or has been fined ₹120 crores as compensation. I wish we could ask them for the same in damages for publishing an absolute lie. As things stand today, the NGT has rapped the DDA for permitting this event on the flood plains. As we said at the start, we sought permission and we got it. All above board. Had they even woken up at the start we would have happily moved elsewhere.
J) Yes, we did choose the Yamuna flood plains to once again raise awareness about the pitiable condition this river is in. In 2010, Art of Living initiated a massive awareness & cleaning campaign called Meri Dilli, Meri Yamuna. 5000 volunteers gathered daily to clean the ghats and other districts. 512 tons of garbage was removed.
K) The Art of Living is extremely conscious of protecting the environment and has done a huge body of work in that area. . As most people don't know this, I'll enunciate it: It has planted more than 55 million trees; rejuvenated 16 rivers across three states in India, started a temple waste management project that converts organic waste thrown into rivers into compost, converts approx 2 tons of plastic waste into oil at its own ashram in Bengaluru and the list goes on. There is no chance of us damaging the the environment by holding this event. Knowing Sri Sri, he would'nt have stood for it if there was.
