Green Options » Ganges

Mision 2020: A Clean and Dolphin Filled Ganges

Govind Singh — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 20:18:54 +0000

Ganga, the holiest of holy rivers in the Indian sub-continent is also one of the most polluted rivers in the region. Last year, after much lobbying, Ganga was declared the National River of India owing to its religious as well as environmental significance. However, just that could never have been enough for cleaning a river on which millions of Rupees have already been spent.

Now, the Union Environment Minister of India Mr. Jairam Ramesh, who had previously unveiled the National Ganga River Basin Authority (NGRBA), has put the NBRBA on a “mission mode” to clean the river by 2020. And his indicator for success is not clear blue waters but the return of the Gangetic dolphins that were once sighted in the river in plenty!

Month-Long Hunger Strike Stops Himalayan Dam Construction

Alex Felsinger — Sun, 15 Mar 2009 18:23:06 +0000

A well-respected Indian scientist nearly died after a 38-day hunger strike in protest of construction on a hydropower dam on a tributary of the Ganges river.

AD Agarwal, a 77-year-old former professor at the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi at Kanpur, began his strike last month when the Indian government refused to study the impacts of the dam before beginning work. The Ganges river’s free-flowing abundance is sacred in Hindu culture.

River Pollution Control Strategy: Ganga Declared the “National River” of India

Govind Singh — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 18:53:10 +0000

It took a radical fast-unto-death decision by a Professor, playing the religion-political card and much activism, that the Government of India has now accepted the fact - otherwise as crystal clear as should have been the water of the Ganges - that the holiest of holy River Ganga is polluted, the Ganga Action Plan has failed and that constructing dams upstream of the river is only making matters worse.

Gangotri Glacier: Source of a River revered by millions

Earlier this year, pained by the unrelenting destruction of the Ganga river, Dr G. D. Agrawal, India’s pre-eminent scientist and a legendary Professor of Civil & Environmental Engineering at IIT-Kanpur went on a fast-unto-death to oppose the river’s continuing desecration.

His campaign was taken up by leader of the opposition party who called for stopping all dam constructions upstream of the river and the Government of India (GoI) was quick to commit itself to ensuring perennial environmental flows throughout the river while also informing Dr. Agarwal the same. Now, the GoI has gone a step ahead and declared Ganga a National River.

Fasting to Death to Save the River Ganges

Jennifer Lance — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 16:16:14 +0000

The River Ganges is provides spiritual and physical sustenance for 400 million people. Raw sewage and industrial waste contaminate the river at every city along its banks (fecal contamination is thousands of times above the safe limit for bathing). The glaciers that feed the river are melting due to global warming, and dam/hydro-electric projects are altering the upper reaches of the river to feed India’s massive demand for energy. Dr.G.D.Agrawal, India’s pre-eminent environmental Scientist, will “fast-unto-death” for the conservation of River Bhagirathi/Ganga. Dr Agrawal explained his decision in a letter to close friends:

As you are aware, R. Bhagirathi Ganga has a very special place in Indian culture, thought and tradition. In the past few years, however, the continuity, quantity, quality and regime of flows are being disrupted for generation of hydro-electricity like all other rivers. Already in the reach downstream of Maneri, long stretches of Bhagirathi remain waterless for long periods. In the near future this may become the state of the entire river. As a serious student of environment sciences and as a faithful Hindu, this is hard for me to swallow. I strongly believe that at least Bhagirathi upstream of Uttarkashi should be spared of any works that disturb its natural flow-regime, ecology, purity or piety and, after brooding over it for several months, I have decided to oppose such works with all the might I have……. So after deep deliberation I have decided to “fast-unto-death” to oppose the destruction of this ecological marvel and the epitome of Hindu cultural faith.

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