Mahabharata describesh the Divine Being saying, “The mountains are his bones. The earth is his fat and flesh. The oceans are his blood. Space is his stomach. The Wind is his breath. Fire is his energy. The rivers are his arteries and veins. Agni and Soma, otherwise called the Sun and the Moon, are called his eyes. The firmament above is his head. The earth is his two feet. The cardinal and subsidiary points of the horizon are his arms,” This is narrated by Bhishma in conversation with Yudhishthira by referring to the reply of Rishi Bhrigu to sage Bharadwaja. This verse occurs in the Shanti Parva of Mahabharata.
Remembering the sacrifice of Ganga Putra Swami Nigamanand of Matri Sadan Ashram, Haridwar who sacrificed his life in a prolonged fast, to ensure the aviralta and nirmalta of Mother Ganga, is also about remembering the ongoing mutilation of the veins and arteries of the rivers in general and Ganga in particular. Rivers shape the terrain and lives of people by its waters which are always in a dynamic state. Breaking this dynamic would unleash forces of uncontrolled change and invite the ‘law of unintended consequences’. It shows how donors of parties refuse to learn from the terrible Aral Sea disaster caused by the mistakes of Soviet Union in which two Siberian rivers were diverted.
In 2011, Swami Nigamananda undertook a fast unto death demanding an end to illegal sand mining in the Ganga, at least in Haridwar where the Kumbh Mela, a mass Hindu pilgrimage, takes place. Both Union and Uttarakhand governments paid no heed. He died after fasting for 115 days. Swami Nigmananda (34), who had fasted for almost four months to protest illegal mining and stone crushing along the Ganga near Haridwar died at the Himalayan hospital in Jollygrant in Dehradun on June 13, 2011. He was born in Ladari, Darbhanga on August 2, 1976.
Dinesh C. Sharma, noted science editor of Mail Today had pointed out that the pathological report of Swami Nigamanand's serum sample showed evidence of organophosphate poisoning. The cholinesterase serum test is usually done to measure exposure to organophosphate insecticides. In the case of Swami Nigamanand, doctors recommended it when his aides reported signs of poisoning. The case was investigated by the CBI. The CBI's closure report dated December 2011 did not satisfy Matri Sadan Ashram. There was an inquiry by a medical board as well.
Swami Nigamananda had been on a fast since February 19, 2011 and was forcibly taken to a local hospital in Haridwar on April 27, 2011 when his condition worsened after days of fasting. He was transferred to the Himalayan hospital in Jollygrant after that he went into a coma and subsequently died.
Swami Nigamananda's followers had asked for a CBI probe into his death alleging that he was poisoned.
Whenever there is conflict between financial gains and rivers, the latter must get priority over monetary benefits because by any yard stick economic value of a free flowing river is bigger than dammed and mutilated rivers. The capitalist, communist and colonial legacy of treating rivers as material flow that flow through pipelines must be abandoned and rivers must be treated as living beings that nourished our civilization for centuries and can nourish all the coming generations if cannibalistic tendency of diverting waters in bottles, dams and banks is stopped.
With regard to pollution in rivers, if Prime Minister and chief ministers of Ganga river basin states can demonstrate their political will and sensitivity environmental health by stopping all the effluents and sewage from entering into river streams through a single executive decision, they would do an exemplary act of arresting ecological collapse, preventing ecocide and for safeguarding the quality of blood flowing in veins and arteries of the present and future generations. The issue quality and quantity of water in the rivers is linked because whenever there depletion of water flow in the river, quality of river water deteriorates. Therefore, how can depletion of river flow through dams on Ganga which results in deterioration of quality of water in Ganga be deemed defensible.
Governments have abandoned the holistic Ganga river basin approach and adopted a narrow Ganga river approach as if the river is only a pipeline of water.
Whither Ganga River Basin Approach
While the commercial benefits of damming rivers has been talked about a lot, the in-stream and off stream monetary and non-monetary benefits and advantages of flowing rivers has not been assessed so far. Does basin approach mean undertaking that assessment?
The declaration of Ganga River Basin Authority as part of Third Phase of Ganga Action Plan (GAP-III) in the aftermath of the acknowledgment by the Prime Minister's Office saying, "there is a need to replace the current piecemeal efforts taken up in a fragmented manner in select cities with an integrated approach that sees the river as an ecological entity and addresses issues of quantity in terms of water flows along with issues of quality" was long due. But that positon has been abandoned by the government which launched the Fourth Phase of Ganga Action Plan (GAP-IV).
Notably, National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) was registered as a society on August 12, 2011 under the Societies Registration Act 1860. It used to act as the implementation arm of National Ganga River Basin Authority(NGRBA) which was constituted under the provisions of the Environment (Protection) Act (EPA), 1986. The prrsent government dissolved NGRBA with effect from October 7, 2016 and constituted National Council for Rejuvenation, Protection and Management of River Ganga (National Ganga Council) vide notification no. S.O. 3187 (E) dt. October 7, 2016 under EPA 1986.
It envisages five tier structure at national, state and district level to take measures for prevention, control and abatement of environmental pollution in river Ganga and to ensure continuous adequate flow of water so as to rejuvenate the river Ganga.
The structure is as under
1. National Ganga Council under chairmanship of Prime Minister of India
2. Empowered Task Force (ETF) on river Ganga under chairmanship of Union Minister of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation
3. National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG)
4. State Ganga Committees and
5. District Ganga Committees in every specified district abutting river Ganga and its tributaries in the states
NMCG has a two tier management structure and comprises of Governing Council and Executive Committee. Both of them are headed by Director General, NMCG. Executive Committee has been authorized to accord approval for all projects up to Rs 1000 crore. Similar to structure at national level, State Programme Management Groups (SPMGs) acts as implementing arm of State Ganga Committees has been constituted. These institutions attempt to bring all stakeholders on one platform to take a holistic approach towards the task of Ganga cleaning and rejuvenation.
The Director General of NMCG who met Sant Atmabodhananda on May 4, 2019 is a Additional Secretary in Government of India. For effective implementation of the projects under the overall supervision of NMCG, the State Level Program Management Groups are headed by officials of the Ganga river States.
Like the earlier phases of Ganga Action Plan, the fourth phase too has failed. The river basin approach affects the quality of surface water, ground water and the survival of natural flow of the rivers in the basin but it was never adopted in practice.
The GAP-I, which was to be completed by March 1990 was extended till March, 2000 when it was declared complete but Phase I of the Plan was not yet fully complete and GAP-II which was to be completed in 2001 was extended till December 2008. This too remained incomplete.
The empty official, ceremonial and ornamental status being accorded to Ganga has become routine.
Even the River Basin approach applied to only 79% of Ganga basin, which is in India. It does not include 13 % of Ganga basin that is in Nepal, 4 % in Bangaldesh and 4 % in Tibet, China. It did not factor in its relationship with the river systems and with the composite Ganga-Brahmputra-Meghna basin.
The question as to how does Ganga river basin approach affect the policies of Industry, Power, Agriculture, Urban Development, Health and Environment by the central government, the governments of eleven states (Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, NCT of Delhi, Rajasthan, Uttranchal, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal), the neighboring countries and industry bodies like CII/FICCI/ASSOCHEM/PHCCI is yet to be addressed.
What is the relevance of Ganga River basin approach when the river channel has been amputated from the flood plains besides the amputation of the river channel itself?
The following are the biggest threats to Ganga basin basin which have been ignored:-
a. Interlinking of Rivers project including Ken-Betwa project;
b. UP’s Ganga Expressway project;
c. Uttarakhand’s Bhairon Ghati, Loharinag-Pala, Pala Maneri and Maneri Bhali hydro-projects
d. Some 191 heavily polluting industries in the Ganga basin states;
e. West Bengal’s Farraka Barrage;
f. Bihar’s Interlinking of Rivers project or Kosi High Dam;
g. Pollution from “Religious” Activities;
h. Corporate funding of political parties;
i. Ganga water ways project; and
j. Nuclear power plants in the Ganga basin in both in India and Bangladesh
Given the poor track record of the National Ganga Council like National River Conservation Directorate, it would be naïve to believe that the threats will be identified and mitigated. If the Ganga basin approach is indeed adopted then as per Comptroller Auditor General's audit reports, there is a need to strengthen the environmental clearance process emanating which has consistently been weakened. And enthusiasm about mega projects like Ganga Waterway and 'interlinking of rivers' scheme must factor in the fact that Ganga is more important than development and the ecological entity of the river basin is non-negotiable.
What can be done even under current scheme of things is to review and reverse the policies like Indian Energy Policy because they wete formulated when basin approach was not adopted. Consequently, fragmented river valley project specific clearances are given without any considered sensitivity towards the environmental health of the river ecosystem. An environmental audit of all the industrial activities in the Ganga basin is a must because auditing and accounting are inextricably interlinked, the important pre-requisite for effective environmental auditing is sound environmental accounting.
Data on environmental costs and liabilities can be used for better decision making relating to usage of alternative raw materials, consumption of utilities like water and power, choice of processing technology based on environmental cost of treating discharge into water, adverse environmental aspect and impact on flora fauna and human beings and treatment of byproducts.
In the face of limitations encountered by National Water Quality Assessment Authority, one of the immediate need of the basin is to take urgent steps to restore the water quality by seeking Zero tolerance towards hazardous chemicals, waste water and depletion in the natural flow due to uncalled for hydro projects adversely affects the water quality.
Infact like previous governments, the prrsent government too has failed to appreciate that water quantity, water quality and land building are inherently linked. Depletion of water quantity leads to deterioration of water quality. Embanking, diverting and damming of rivers prevents rivers to perform its natural function of land building.The entire Indo-Gangetic plains have been built by river's natural geological function. It is evident that economic planning in Ganga basin is against the water cycle-it is unscientific. Those who accept this situation in a business as usual manner are complicit in what has been termed as The Economics of Innocent Fraud.
Through their sacrifices saints like Baba Nagnath, Swami Nigmanand, Prof. G. D. Agarwal (Swami Sanand) and Sant Atmabodhanand are constantly reminding us of the Tamil proverb saying that "Sea begins in the mountains"-water cycle itself is a living entity. Such struggles and sacrifices merits the salute of not only the sons and daughters of Ganga but also of the entire humanity.
As long as Ganga's Aviral (unimpeded flow) is impeded such struggles must continue in myriad forms to safeguard the natural right of the river for the benefit of present and future generation of humans and non-human living species.
Dr. Gopal Krishna
(The author was a co-petitioner in National Green Tribunal on the subject of environmental impact of Ganga Waterways project along with Prof. Bharat Jhunjhunwala, the author of Economics of Rivers Flow: Lessons for India from Dam Removals in America (2009) and Water: Impacts of Dams on its Qualities (2014). He is a critic of greed for water grid and data grid driven ecocide. He is a practicing advocate and a researcher of philosophy, mass communication and law. His current work is focused on the philosophy of digital totalitarianism and monetisation of nature. He has appeared before the Supreme Court's Committees, Parliamentary Committees of Europe, Germany and India and UN agencies on the subject of national and international legislations on nuclear damage, consumers, land acquisition, biological diversity, finance, hazardous waste trade, water cycle and corporate crimes. He is an ex-Fellow, International Research Group on Authoritarianism and Counter Strategies (IRGAC)-University of Potsdam, Germany. He is a member of Mahanirban Calcutta Research Group (MCRG). He is also the editor of www.toxicswatch.org.)
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