Is Ganga cleaning a mere cosmetic exercise?

“I have lost Ganga’’ –are the last heart-touching words of the spiritual devotee of Ma Ganga G.D Agarwal aka Swami Gyan Swaroop Sanand. He had been on fast demanding the government to restore the purity of the Ganga since June this year. He passed away pathetically pleading in vain. But his last words are sure to haunt every pious Indian and question the powers that be why his Ma Ganga has been allowed to be defiled and desecrated beyond measure for decades together.

The cold reply of Water Resources and Ganga River Rejuvenation Minister Nitin Gadkari that ‘’We have accepted almost all his demands for cleaning of the Ganga’’ has come rather late. It just smacked of indifference to the bleeding voice of a humanist who considered the Ganga not simply as one of many a river but as the most venerable Mother of all rivers whose mystic flow from the matted locks of the blue God has hallowed India and sustained the lives of millions of Hindus from times immemorial. It is to the knowledge of all that the Ganga has defined our history and mythology.

We are the foremost in venerating it as most sacred and merciful since it receives our sins, absorbs our sweat, secretions and excretions and in turn rewards us with ‘’redemption’’ A mere dip in it is said to be securing us a sure salvation after death. She is the janeu of India---the thread that knits life and death. She is the source and end of all prayers. Aren’t we proud of the fact that she is part and parcel of our Vedic literature? Don’t we know that the Ganga is spread over 1.1 million square kilometres and its basin is home to a quarter of India’s population.

Yet, the Ganga, the Mother of our rivers, is dying slowly by degrees. The World Wildlife Foundation described it long ago as one of the most endangered rivers in the world. At its dirtiest, this sacred river is just a sewage pipe with its top-The National Green Tribunal had declared its water between Haridwar and Unnao in UP unfit for drinking and bathing. It has also directed National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) to instal display boards at a gap of 100 kilmetres indicating whether the water is fit for drinking and bathing. Any day and any time one, can see countless tanneries pouring an endless stream of filth into the Ganga. It ecosystem has alarmingly degenerated.

Are the Ganga’s cultural , economic and environmental values alas! things of the past?
Underlining how the rivers provide physical and spiritual sustenance to half the Indian population, the Uttarakhand High Court recognised the Ganga as a living entity in2014 and took both the Central government and the state government to task. The court even declared that the Director of the Namami Gange Scheme , the Chief Secretary and the Advocate General of Uttarakhand would serve as ‘’’parents’ for the river and would be the human face to ‘’ protect, conserve and preserve’’ the rivers and their tributaries.’ The court also said that the rivers can sue persons acting against their interests.

In October 2017, the government had also promised ‘’ a visible change’’ in the Ganga water quality by 2019. Though an amount of Rs 7000 crore was spent by government in two years to cleanse the Ganga, it still remains an ‘’environmental issue’’ according to the National Green Tribunal. It is lamentable that even in the context of Namami Gange Project, the issue of upstream constructions on the river obstructing the natural flow of water is not properly addressed.

Are setting up sewage treatment of plants, ghat development, solid waste management schemes and bio-diversity conservation efforts merely a tall talk? Is Ganga cleaning drive a mere cosmetic? Are the opportunities for kickbacks and favours to patronage networks delaying the projects of cleansing the Ganga?

It is a pity that the fast unto death of a renowned hydrologist and environmental technocrat like G.D. Agarwal is yet to awaken the slumbering governments both at the Centre and in the state to the immediate need for restoring the pristine health of the ailing Ma of millions of India.