NEW DELHI, JANUARY 21: A GROUP of volunteers did their weekly cleaning up job on the Yamuna as onlookers, creatures of habit and momentary mockers dumped dirt from the bridge.

"Kya sharm ghar peh chhod ke aaye hoh," yelled d volunteer at the man standing on the bridge and dumping prasad into the river.

Standing knee-deep in blackened water and armed with spades, shovels and pans, volunteers of We for Yamuna -students from premier colleges, professionals working in multinationals as well as children from NGOs Salaam Balak and Prayas were at the Qudsian ghat on Sunday attempting once again to clean its dirty banks.

While some watched the group, others tried to discourage them by throwing everything from plastic bottles, packets to text books into the river.

Sanjay, a volunteer from Salaam Balak, says the programme is a "punya ka kaam". "It is the foolish ones who throw garbage into the river," he adds as he tells you that the programme will have an impact on the authorities. "When we give them the photos of our work, they will help us," he believes.

It may be a fond hope. Litterbugs aren’t particularly concerned. Neither is the administration. Local MCD officials turned a deaf ear to the students who were trying to get a truck to transport the garbage to a disposal site.

"We have called them up so many times to get them to take the garbage but they are not coming," said Kamlika Chandla from Gargi College. "The last time we cleaned up this patch, the garbage was lying on the banks for nearly a month. The MCD never came to pick it up."

Attempts to get the MCD officials involved in the campaign endorsed by Shantum Seth last year had failed, students said.

‘This is just a symbolic thing. It’s about sensitising people. It is sad that our traditions and customs are being used to dirty the river we say is holy. This is not a river, it is a drain," said a volunteer.

Volunteers say they are not able to discourage people from throwing the ashes and corpses into the river "‘We cannot give them an alternative but it is the government that can do that," they say.

Volunteers come from St Stephens College, LSR, School of Planning and Architecture, Indian Institute of Technology, Kamla Nehru College, Aurobindo College, Delhi School of Music, Deshbandhu College Miranda House and Dayal Singh College.

Among those busy shovelling the dirt cut of the river onto a pan is an employee with Lufthansa Air lines and a filmmaker. "I work with River Bank studio which makes films on environment related issues," says J.P. Singh.

Along a part of the bank is a small exhibition of photographs taken by Fanthome, a photography en thusiast. "These have been taken while we were at work earlier," he says, showing pictures of decaying animal carcasses floating in the river.

Vimalendu Jha, the brain behind the campaign is busy, shovelling out the dirt from the river. "We all wanted to do something but we needed someone to take the initiative which Vimalendu did There are other who laughed and said he was out to be a neta but we felt we were doing something and so we joined hands," says Kamlika.