SAMAJ WEEKLY, UK
By Vidya Bhushan Rawat
It is an honor for me to speak at the Jawahar Bhawan, dedicated to the iconic man, I did not see him but whatever that I read about him, through his writings, has made an everlasting impression on me. I would like to quote Jawahar Lal Nehru from his ‘Will’.
He says,
‘My desire to have a handful of my ashes thrown into the Ganga at Allahabad has no religious significance, so far as I am concerned. I have no religious sentiment in the matter. I have been attached to the Ganga and Januna [Jumna] Rivers in Allahabad ever since my childhood and, as I have grown older, this attachment has also grown. I have watched their varying moods as the seasons changed, and have often thought of the history and myth and tradition and song and story that have become attached to them through the long ages and become part of their flowing waters. The Ganga, especially, is the river of India, beloved by her people, round which are intertwined her racial memories, her hopes and fears, her songs of triumph, her victories and her defeats. She has been a symbol of India’s age‐long culture and civilizatiton, ever changing, ever flowing, and yet ever the same Ganga. She reminds me of the snow‐covered peaks and the deep valleys of the Himalayas, which I have loved so much, and of the rich and vast plains below, where my life and work have been cast’.
My cultural association with Ganga
I was born in a place which is the confluence of two small rivers, tributaries of Ganges, and from where river Kho, begins its journey which is a tributary of Ram Ganga river. And first time, I saw Ganga at Muni-ki-Reti and Lakshman Jhula near Rishikesh when I was just seven years old child. The first sight of Ganga mesmerized me. Then I realized, how it is part and parcel of life of people in Uttarakhand.
I was perplexed to see that movement to protect Ganga did not get any public sympathy in Uttarakhand. I did not understand as why a state where Ganga is deeply rooted in our psyche remain untouched to the atrocities being committed on it in the name of ‘development’. Was there a disconnect between people and ‘intellectuals’ or ‘experts’ as usually happens everywhere and the result is this journey which I tried to cover every part, every confluence that Ganga had with its tributaries and distributaries.
The Ganga in the Himalayas
Formally, I started the journey in September 2021 from trekking from Gangotri till Bhojwasa on way to Gaumukh and covered almost all the major rivers of Uttarakhand including Yamuna, Tons, Gauriganga, Kali-Sharda etc. Prior to that, I travelled to all the Prayags and valleys of beautiful Dhauli Ganga, Mandakini, Nandakini, Pinder, Alaknanda and Bhagirathi. That made this journey unique. It took nearly four years to cover this hence this is not merely a journey touching some point and returning but attempt to understand the crisis on Ganga and its tributaries.
From Gangotri till Bay of Bengal, I saw a massive civilizational crisis emerging and if that is not addressed, we will be in deep trouble. Ganga is the biggest river of India and its plain is the most fertile land where the farmers have flourished and millions of people depending on water gained life. The bio diversity of river Ganga remain unparallel.
Chipko Movement
While in Uttarakhand, Ganga and its tributaries face threat from various hydropower projects because they snatch the beauty of the river, control its water and impact the rich bio-diversity of the river. A travel to Niti Valley and Lata and Raini villages, the epicenters of Chipko movement, gave me the idea of what is wrong with those who romanticize a movement without understanding that the nature of the movement. Chipko movement was the cry of the native communities for their access to forest produce which they used to enjoy prior to Indo China war 1962 when people had access to Tibetan market and vice versa. There was a huge market for domestic products, forest produce etc. A large number of villagers got dislocated and all the passes to Tibet were closed. The other side of the story is that government continued with the British policy of auctioning the forests. So every year Symonds company would obtain the forest produce, chop the trees mercilessly and take them out of the state. Gaura Devi and her Saathis protested against this in Raini and threw the contractors out. This was welcomed by all in Uttarakhand and the movement got highlighted. H.N Bahuguna, the chief minister, called some of the ‘activists’, mostly the Brahmanical elite, to Lucknow for a conversation. The auctioning to ‘private’ was stopped but a new boss was created which was ‘Uttar Pradesh Van Nigam’ or Uttar Pradesh Forest Corporation, which made the lives of the people more miserable. While many people got name and fame internationally, the native people were fighting and had to resort to ‘Chheeno Jhapto’ movement to gain the access to forest. H N Bahuguna therefore was the biggest villain of this who looked down upon this movement and tried to sabotage it. The problem with the intellectuals and their devotees in the media is that they ignored that this movement was led by the adivasis-janjati people. The history of Chipko movement is that of those people, the Bhutiyas and others but their issues and role was conspicuously obliterated from the popular discourse and the movement was romanticized as ‘protection of trees and ‘environment’. World over, it is the indigenous communities who are depended on forests and it is they who nurture it. No community would ever nurture mountains and rivers without using it. It needs to be understood that the relationship between native communities and nature is their interdependences and this issue was grossly ignored and underestimated by the environmental elite.
Ganga and its various tributaries shines in Uttarakhand. The confluences of different rivers are unparallel and stunning but sadly they will disappear once different barrages and dams that are proposed start functioning. There was a beautiful Sangam of Bhilangana with Bhagirathi at Tehri which is not visible now. There is a beautiful Sangam of river Gori with Kali at Joljibi in Pithoragarh. If Pancheswar dams, on Indo Nepal cooperation, comes through, then some of these beautiful places and confluences will disappear. The Sangam of Rupin and Supin river at Netwar in Uttarakhand which start the journey of Tons is supremely beautiful but a dam near the confluence is bound to finish them off. Nobody deny the importance of energy but we also need to think that the Himalayas and its rivers are not merely our ‘Resource’ but our heritage, our identity particularly for the people living in these regions. So, my simple point to the power elite is stop destroying our identity. A destruction of Himalayas will bring unprecedented crisis to Gangetic plains in India so we must not do anything that escalate the crisis we already facing.
The crisis in the Gangetic plains of Uttar Pradesh
The Gangetic Plains of Uttar Pradesh will suffer in future with desertification. Ganga loses its shine once it enters Balawali, Bijnor district. Travel to this region and onward during the summer, and you will realise how the Ganga water has drastically reduced and agricultural land and green pastures have been converted into desert. Water at Garhmukteshwar remain merely for the rituals and the pollution increasing every inch it passes. By the time, it reaches Kannauj and have its first confluence with Ramganga, you can walk through the river Ramganga. Reaching the confluence has been difficult because of changing embankment of the river. A local farmer told me at the confluence that it is not the ‘kheti (farming) but Reti (sandmining) which is rampant and ‘source’ of earning for even the farmers. This reflects the sad state of the crisis. A few kilometers onwards, we are at historic place Bithoor which is now more known as a ‘religious’ place and to ensure that magnetism of religion. Suddenly, you really feel wonderful to see ‘water’ in the river. A couple of boats are visible and again we see the beauty of the river Ganga but our fear is found true. About seven kilometers from Bithoor is the Ganga Barrage on Kanpur Unnao border. While there is enough water to quench your religious thirst at Bithoor, at Kanpur the river looks dry with both side huge sand beds. You won’t be able to recognize the river from the original embankments. Moreover, Kanpur which is called the Manchester of the East, is actually, contributing the biggest ‘sewage’ water to Ganga look like the Sewage tributary of the Ganga. The river stink on the ghats. It is very disturbing to see that ‘Ghats’ have constructed with ‘Namami Gange’ project but no efforts were visible to improve the plight of the holy river. All it reflects that we want to worship the river from a nice built place but don’t really bother about the crisis that the river is facing.
The patch between Allahabad and Varanasi via Vindhyanchal is beautiful and water less contaminated perhaps because of Yamuna is bigger in Allahabad and carry more water from Chambal in it which is definitely an unpolluted river but at Varanasi, we see the devastating pollution in the river. We are told that two ‘rivers’ flows into Ganga in Varanasi : Assi Ganga and Varuna. A visit to the ‘confluence’ of them only show the hypocrisy of thoses who call them ‘rivers. They have been turned into absolute sewage ‘rivers’, and further pollute Ganga.
Ganga at Varanasi
At Varanasi the Mahaarti has been commercialized. It become a ‘light and sound show’ and not really that spiritual power which it used to be once upon a time. Big moneyed people use the trawlers and cruise to watch it while the other common people have to pay huge sum to watch it from the back. It was definitely a sad scenario.
Between Varanasi to the Gomti Ganga Sangam is again a pathetic site. There is no water in Gomti and it is much polluted river. There are lots of birds on the island zones in the Sangam. Ganga’s entry in Bihar is via Buxar and just a few kilometers before the city is Chausa, a historic town where Sher Shah Suri’s forces had defeated Humanyun. The so-called memorial is nothing but being made a ‘selfie park. All memorial and historical places are carefully being converted into amusement parks everywhere and mythological characters are being created as historical figures and events. Again, Karmnasha-Ganga confluence show the terrible state of agriculture in the region. It was deadly heat of June and Karmnasha was looking like a dry stream flowing into Ganga. The agricultural land showed sign of ‘cracks’ even when we would see numerous birds chirping near the confluence. Sewage continues to flow into the river in Buxar too.
Massive sand mining in Bihar
But the biggest challenge, I saw on our rivers was in a historic place called Chirand in Saran district where Ghaghara, Son River flows into Ganga. The confluence zone has shifted a few kilometers again. From Revelganj to Chirand, on the National High way, huge smoke of dust welcomes you apart from huge lane of big trucks used for carrying Sand. On the bank of river Ghaghara, which local call Saryu, you can see hundreds of cargo streamers used for carrying sand from the river. Any person who is not habitual of staying in these zones, would just collapse as breathing become impossible. The Red Sand from river Son is the most popular. It is also a fact that Sand mafia has political protection. It is time for sensitization of people as well as stricter environmental norms imposed otherwise this region too wait for a catastrophe. Similar conditions can be seen around Hariharpur Sonpur area where Ganga and Narayani Gandaki conflate. Sonepur was famous for the cattle fair but that is a thing of past now. It is merely a fair which is more as a time pass for the locals and others who visit the famous shrine in the Hariharpur.
The river Ganga in Patna looks polluted. Patna itself is a polluted city. From there till Munger, we can see Ganga splitting at various places and huge sandy river beds everywhere. The summer in these regions are extremely difficult with massive dust in the air. Most of the agricultural land is turning barren. Water level in the river is reducing resulting in extension of its breadth and creation of the sandy patches or islands in between. You can see huge bridges across Ganga but the river look tiny, the only time, it looks river is the monsoon season. Mokama, Begusarai and Khagaria present an abysmal picture but the biggest shock was at Kosi Ganga Sangam which is difficult to reach due to river bed turning sandy. To reach to the area is difficult. On a normal winter or summer, the water at the confluence is extremely low and river look dirty too. Again, the breadth of the river increases. However, from Manihari in Katihar to Sahebganj, a tip on Cargo Ship is worth remembering though it is difficult to cruise because of the water level but it will work till the bridge connecting Sahebganj and Manihari is completed.
Historical Rajmahal
However, the most fascinating part of river Ganges in Bihar is South Bihar. From Munger which itself is a historical place but the old fort area is totally encroached and you will find no effort to preserve the historical architecture and buildings. The river from Munger to Bhagalpur and Kahalganon is phenomenal. It is a treat to watch. It look less polluted and is called ‘Uttar vahini’ at Sultanganj where historical Ajgaibinath temple is located. Bhagalpur is an extremely important location where enough evidence exits on our Buddhist, Adivasi and Jain past. There are historical places. The most beautiful region is Kahalgaon and Vikramshila. It was reported that from Sultanganj to Kahalgaon, the Bihar government has declared the entire area as ‘Dolphine Sanctury’. The fisherfolks are protesting against it as they lose their right to fishing. Ganga Mukti Abhiyan started from this place fighting against the Zamindari on water and finally Lalu Prasad Yadav as chief minister of Bihar ended that cruel system imposed during the British period that looted the fisher communities of the region but the lives of the fish workers are not safe. Zamindari has gone but Rangdari has started. People still fear.
Sahebganj is the only Ganga district in Jharkhand. Ganga is massive between Manihari to Sahebganj. There is an international port and a domestic but perhaps under-utilised. The water level is still not that much which can ensure an easy passage. Secondly, Ganga split more in Jharkhand. Various streams splits and join again. The most important place of Ganga journey in Jharkhand is Raj Mahal, a very historical place, former capital of undivided Bengal under the Mughal King Akbar era. Raja Man Singh was made the Viceroy of Bengal and it is he who established Rajmahal as the capital of the state. It still has few landmarks like Jami Mosque, Baradari and many other places which still need deep care as they remind of our rich historical legacies.
Between Raj Mahal and Farakka, Gumani river rising from the Raj Mahal hills ultimately merge with Ganga and then moves towards Farakka. The link road between Rajmahal and Farakka is in extremely bad shape during the last 10 kilometers perhaps because it is the area of coal mining and thermal powere plant. Again, the air is filled with dust and smoke most of the time in nearly 10 kilometers area. One can just imagine the lives of people during the summers here.
The one point on which the fisherfolks from Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand unite is the issue of Farakka Barrage. They want this barrage to decommissioned as it has damaged the fish diversity in the river above Farakka. Hilsa is not available to fisherfolks in UP, Bihar and Jharkhand. After Farakka, fisherfolks claims that they get it but due to closure of gates at the Barrage, Hilsa and other fish can’t move back. Many farmers too reflected that due to barrage a large part of land in Jharkhand and Bengal face flooding in monsoon. The impact of Monsoon floods is tremendous in Bihar and Bengal and governments have so far not been able to reach to any particular conclusion or solution so that human lives or agricultural land is not lost. Every year, the soil erosion has already engulfed thousands of acres of land and made people landless. It is time to serious think over these issues and protect our communities, farmers, fish workers and others living nearby the river.
Ganga in Bengal: Rise of Bhagirathi
The journey of Ganges in Bengal is extremely important to understand the issue of climate change. The split in the rivers become the norms. Right from Nimtitta town, the Ganges becomes too wider and split into two parts. The river flows towards Bangladesh and is known as Padma there while the second part of the river again split at Giria and is known as Bhagirathi which then travels to different districts from Murshidabad, Plassey, Nabadweep where again Jalangi meet it and the new river is known as Hooghly. The interesting part is that there are towns on both the sides of Hooghly. There is history. Nabadweep is the birth place of Chaitnya Mahaprabhu. After passing through many places the Hooghly ultimately flows into Bay of Bengal in the Sundarban region. The place where it merges into the sea is known as Ganga Sagar but Sagar Dweep itself has numerous issues of climate crisis. Many villages have disappeared and many might disappear in future as the water level of the sea is rising regularly.
To conclude, I would say, preserving Ganga is extremely important for the health of India as it emerges from Himalayas and finally flows into Bay of Bengal near the Sundarban. Both the Himalayas and Sundarban are world heritage. The impact of climate change is visible both these places. The question is whether the so-called climate change is a natural process or human made disaster. The number of commercial activities in the Himalayas as well as in Sundarban are bound to impact all of us.
We need to think beyond boxes but certainly not to convert the entire issue of Ganga and climate change to merely confined to ‘experts. It is time, we engage and involve the local communities, fishermen, farmers and other native communities depended on the river and its surroundings as without their active participation in any debate or decision-making processes, we won’t be able to do anything meaningful. Save the Ganga slogan means protecting and preserving Himalayas and Sundarbans apart from all big and small rivers and riverine that make Ganga.
· The talk delivered at Jawahar Bhawan, New Delhi, on November 18th, 2024, organized by Rajiv Gandhi Institute for Contemporary Studies.
