‘Vrindavan needs change’

The city of Mathura holds a profound spiritual aura with its deeprooted devotion to RadhaKrishna and the countless temples that dot its landscape Vrindavan nestled within Mathura further amplifies this spiritual essence with its numerous temples and the constant influx of devotees seeking blessings Vrindavan spread across a 20 km stretch having around 5884 temples with 30 to 40 big temples including the ISKON temple and Premnagar temple see maximum tourist visits in the region midday visited the bylanes interacting with locals shopkeepers autorickshaw drivers and tourists to know what issues they faceDevotees queue up to visit a temple one of several in the city where thousands visit dailySeveral locals highlighted two major issues including the cleanliness of the Yamuna River as it is heavily polluted by industrial waste and untreated sewage discharge The second issue is the development of the Banke Bihari Temple Corridor along the lines of the Kashi Vishwanath Corridor which will offer devotees three convenient routes to reach the Krishna templeRohit Rajput a hotel manager who moved from Agra to Vrindavan for work said ldquoMore than 60 per cent of the people staying in Vrindavan are from Madhya Pradesh Agra Uttar Pradesh Rajasthan Maharashtra and other parts Devotion to the lord brings them here and they usually find work locally and continue to stay Many have been staying here for decades Even foreigners come to stay hererdquoAmit Bajpai and Ashish Bajpai who had come for darshan from KanpurAccording to Rajput there is a lack of planning and crowd management by the local administration and police who have put up barricades around 3 km before temples areas ldquoIf barricades are being installed 3 km ahead proper arrangements need to be made so that people can reach the temple without hassles There should be governmentrun erickshaws plying This will bring in revenue and also prevent people from being cheated by local erickshaw drivers who charge exorbitant amounts There should also be fines imposed on rule violators Also there has to be public transport like Metro rail or other options to reach the templesrdquo he saidPushkar Upadyay an erickshaw driver who is also from another state and came to Vrindavan over his devotion said ldquoVrindavan has seen many changes and developments after Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath took charge He used up a lot of funds in developing and beautifying the regionrdquoRegarding actor Hema Malini being given a ticket to contest Upadyay said ldquoA ticket should be only given to a local who has an idea about the city and is known to people in the city and villages Giving celebrities a ticket is just to gain traction Are they really on the ground meeting people to know their problems or just campaigning during elections Also at times it is a major task to meet a celebrity and so often locals canrsquot take up issues with them The government must develop skills of the people and increase the number of jobs available Also the corridor issue has to be resolved to ease the movement of peoplerdquoPushkar Upadyay anerickshaw driver who visited Vrindavan and decided to stay there with his familyMansi Arora from Haryana moved to Vrindavan five years ago She says there are thousands who visit daily and the crowd swells to lakhs of people during festivals ldquoThere should be a queue system at temples here as many times senior citizens and kids get stuck in the crowd Also the authorities need to regularly clean the Yamuna River This will enable local use the water and people would also be able to perform ritualsrdquo she saidYogita Boche from Maharashtrarsquos Akola runs a snack and lunch centre in Vrindavan close to Hema Malinirsquos house ldquoMalinimadam has been seen here since Holi and is campaigning regularly Usually she visits the area once or twice a week Many people feel that she is working for bettermentrdquo said BocheAccording to Boche cleanliness is a major issue in Mathura ldquoSeveral areas are littered with garbage The authorities should conduct more cleanliness drives Visitors should be careful to not litterhellip to maintain the hygiene and take in the spirituallyrdquo she addedMeanwhile Advocate Ashish Kumar Bajpai 42 a visitor from Kanpur told midday that local transport is a major issue ldquoThe complete Parikrama Puri in Vrindavan is almost 21 km long We have come 23 times for darshan in Mathura and always found local transport to be an issue The erickshaw drivers charge too much There is also a lack of proper toilets and refreshment centres Metro rail connectivity is essential and due to the daily footfall It will also be a good revenue generatorrdquo Ashish saidAmit Bajpai a teacher accompanying Ashish said he had been coming to Mathura for darshan for decades ldquoThere is an increase in the number of devotees and tourism and many things should have changed accordingly In the last few years a major problem is that the Rs 10 coin isnrsquot accepted here It is accepted all over India but no one accepts it here Is it banned in Mathura or is there some other reasonrdquo5884Approx no of temples in Vrindavan