Mathura, Oct 21 (PTI) A man and his sister today drownedin River Yamuna here while taking a holy dip on Yam Dwiteeyafestival, police said.
The incident happened near the Bengali Ghat when Bholaand Gita - residents of Bharatpur district in Rajasthan - weretaking the holy dip, SP City Shravan Kumar Singh said.
On Yam Dwiteeya, brothers and sisters taking bathtogether in the river is considered auspicious.
Nearly one lakh devotees come to Mathura annually to takethe holy dip, but the incident has panicked them, said VijaiBahadur Singh, PRO, Sri Krishna Janmasthan Seva Sansthan.
More than one lakh devotees took the holy dip in theriver today, Mathura Municipal Commissioner Ujjwal Kumar said.
Some devotees complained about the polluted river.
"After seeing the condition of the Yamuna, I had decidednot to take the holy dip. However, my sister pressured me totake the bath," said Ram Khelari, who had come to the cityfrom Gorakhpur.
Madhu Mangal Das, from Vadodara, who had traditionallycarried the "holy water" with him, said he gave up the ideadue to the pollition. PTI CORABH.
This is unedited, unformatted feed from the Press Trust of India wire.