NEGLECT OF OUR REVERED RIVERS
(A thought ignited on the eve of World Water Day, we talk & celebrate every year, But is that enough?)
Recently, while cleaning my book shelves, I came across an old
cassette containing songs of the Bollywood film “JIS DESH MAIN GANGA BEHATI HAI”.
As it was a film I had seen during my
college days, I sat down to listen to the cassette. The old memories immediately
returned, and with them came a flashback of the golden days of hostel life.
The time was 1955 to 1961 and the place was Allahabad. My
college was located on the banks of Yamuna river. The confluence of the three
great rivers, Ganga, Yamuna and the mythological hidden Sarswati, known as sangam, was just half a nautical mile from our location. The college had a dozen of its own cutter
boats which were a big hit with all the hostellers, particularly those with an
interest in rowing and swimming. Spending
few hours of the day at or in the river was the usual routine of most of the
students living in the hostels then.
Could we drink the river water directly without any hesitation?
That was a question that never even occurred
to anyone in those days. Both the rivers
were not only revered as sacred but their water was unquestionably clean, hygienic
and perfectly fit for human consumption.
But that was then! In 2012, I happened to pay a short visit to
Allahabad, after a period of over 50 years. The beautiful memories of the past
were so strong that on reaching Allahabad, I could not resist an urge to go and
visit my college and its beautiful river front with the hope of seeing the
boats lined up along the banks, carrying the college insignia and furling
colorful flags. But where were the river
and the boats?
Sadly they were all gone. The river which had almost touched
the parapet of the college premises had now drifted two or three hundred meters
away. It was no more the magnificent, over a mile wide, river that I had left
in the 1950s, but rather looked like an ordinary stream. The college boats, I was told, were sold off too
as few students were interested in water sports due to the polluted waters. The
worst thing one noticed was the heaps of garbage littered all over the river
banks.
I had left Allahabad in early 1961, and after completion of
the initial training, was commissioned
in the Indian Army in mid June 1963. As luck would have it, my first
posting was in an elite Mountain Artillery regiment which at that time was
stationed at one of the cantonments in Uttar Pradesh. The regiment had just returned
after taking part in the Indo-China war of 1962 and was in the process of
recouping & re-organizing. This period
of calm did not last long and its batteries were ordered to urgently move to
forward areas on the Indo-Tibet border. The
battery, in which I was posted, was assigned to move to a forward location in
the Garhwal region. (An artillery
regiment consists of four batteries, each equipped with four mountain guns). Since
this was for the first time that the army was being inducted in the area, every
operational and logistic detail had to be worked out from scratch. We prepared
ourselves accordingly, and a special train was requisitioned to bring the battery
comprising of over 200 men, 100 or so horses and mules, guns, and other arms
and equipment to the railhead at the foothill of the Himalayas. That railhead was
Rishikesh, at the time a small religious town full of big and small temples
that were lined up along the mighty river Ganga. Thus my association with Ganga was again
revived.
We moved from
Rishikesh to our destination on foot, following the track which ran along the
river and reached our post in twelve days, covering a distance of about 150
kilometers. The movement of the battery was
difficult and strenuous, as at many places the track had either been washed
away due to landslides or was too narrow to negotiate with the horses and mules
carrying full loads. During the journey we also had to take into account many
other factors such suitable camping sites en route, transport of food &
fodder for the men and animals, security considerations, communication and so
on. Yet at no stage was the requirement of water ever considered. The reason
was simple. The fast flowing rivers, streams and waterfalls along the route provided
ample guarantee of clean and potable water.
Unfortunately, can anyone afford to neglect the requirement for water to
day if undertaking a similar military move? The answer simply is no!
Incidentally, that trip was also when I learned that the
river Ganga is only named as such from Dev
Prayag about 40 kilometers upstream from Rishikesh where the rivers Bhagirathi
and Alaknanda meet. My long stay in the
region also gave me the opportunity to explore almost the entire Indo-Tibet
border and its numerous passes leading into Tibet. The most interesting aspect of these explorations
was the realization of the love and respect the local people have for the river
Ganga. This is one reason why so many
tributaries are named after the Ganga, including Dhauli ganga, Dharma ganga, Gauri
ganga, Hanuman ganga, Rishiganga, Akash ganga, Patal ganga, Garud ganga, Birahi
ganga and Ramganga.
The two incidents narrated above were to elucidate the
condition of our most revered rivers, the way they were fifty years ago, and
their terrible condition today. No doubt that India has made tremendous progress
in various fields in the past four or five decades. But it has also maintained
a blind eye towards the preservation of the most vital element that is required
for the very survival of all living being on this earth: water!
All along the Ganga and its tributaries, where earlier
stainless steel, brass or copper containers to carry holy water were sold to pilgrims,
one only finds rows and rows of plastic water bottles of various brands. After
all, most of the river water is now not safe to drink. According to some experts, over 19,659 tons
of garbage and other harmful chemical wastes are dumped every year in the Ganga
alone. Uttar Pradesh alone accounts for
55.4% for this dumping, while West Bengal shares 18.8%, thus achieving the first
& second positions in this contest for self-destruction.
Worse still, our blind religious faith also contributes
significantly to polluting the Ganga. For instance, in Varanasi alone, over
32,000 bodies are cremated at the Ganga’s two cremation ghats every year and
use 16,000 tons of wood. If we take into
consideration the number of such cremations in other cities and towns along the
river, the amount of wood used and pollution of air and water is astounding. Why can’t the government and the society work
towards banning such damage to the environment and instead ask people to perform
such rituals at electric crematoria instead?
The scenario looks even bleaker when we view this issue in
terms of international relations and its complications, particularly viz-a viz
our neighboring countries. For instance, it is a well know fact that most of
the rivers in northern India originate from the Tibetan plateau. Can there be any guarantee that China will
not divert the course of some or all of these rivers to quench the thirst of
its own parched northern areas? This should be of particularly serious concern
as China has already built a number of dams on rivers flowing into India, including
the Brahmputra, the Sutlej and the main Indus streams. Can we imagine the consequences
if some of the Ganga’s tributaries that originate in Tibet and pass through Nepal
to eventually join the main river are diverted by China to meet its own need?
We know that the holy river Ganga desperately needs fresh
water from its tributaries, and rivers from Nepal alone account for 46 per cent
of its flow. Their contribution grows to 71 per cent during the lean season.
This is an issue that our foreign policy must address urgently and forcefully,
particularly when our past experiences on treaties with China have not been
encouraging.
Moreover, Asia is a comparatively dry continent, with less
than one-tenth of the fresh waters of South America, less than one fourth of
North America, one third of Europe and even a little less than Africa. Despite
this, Asia is also the world’s largest and most populous continent, with India
and China holding the bulk of the human populations.
In many ways, both countries are already drawing on
tomorrow’s water to meet today’s needs and at this rate, that day is not far
when India at least will be forced to import water from abroad. This has major consequences for our dreams of
becoming a strong, developed nation, as we cannot move forward while we lack
the most vital of resources. Not surprisingly, and as many experts predict,
there is a good chance that the next war will be fought
over the issue of water!
In conclusion, one must emphasize that India’s prime concern
today should be to conserve its water resources instead of planning manned missions
to the moon.
By
MG Singh