Har Har Gange!

done carefully in context of the environment. Climate related factors could make India’s GDP decline by 9%.

BY SHAILAJA CHATURVEDI

Aye abogad-e-Ganga

Vo din hai yaad tujhko

Utaraa tere kinare

Jab caravan hamara

O influential river

Do you remember the day

Our caravan stopped

On your banks…

Dr Mohammed Iqbal (Urdu poet, 1877-1938)

Magasthenese from Younan, Fahiem and Huensang from China, Albourini and Mark Twain have all described the Ganga as the oldest river in its religious and philosophical forms. India not only nurtures its natural resources but as its highest gratitude, worships them. The Ganga has continued to define civilizations on its banks through the millennia and it is referred to not just as a river, but as a goddess.

Global consultants have been invited to formulate an action plan to clean the Ganga and the World Bank has contributed $3 billion to manage the plan, with $1 billion agreed over the next decade

King Bhagirath prayed to Lord Shiva to bring Ganga down to earth from heaven, to relieve the scarcity of water, as the deity held it in his locks to prevent flooding. The Ganga has remained the mightiest river system, responsible for the material and spiritual sustenance of three billion people living in India, China, Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh.

4000 metres above sea level is Goumukh, a mystical, spiritual and holy cave surrounded by the bottle green ice of the Western Himalayan glacier, the largest in the world.

In its original form as Bhagirathi, the river sprawls down from Goumukh conjoining with the Alaknanda river in Dev Prayag, where it becomes Ganga, the most popular of its

From this source, journeying down the 2510 km to the sea, the Ganga tells the story of the culture and civilization of India, the rise and fall of empires, great and proud cities along its banks and adventures of man. This celestial river bed supports vegetation year-round, even when there is little or no rain. The Ganga irrigates 17.9 million hectares of land in Northern India and was declared a National Heritage landmark recently, and the nation’s national river in November 2008.

The Ganga is undoubtedly indispensible. Glaciers in the Himalayas are melting faster than anywhere in the world, with an estimated 20% of the range lost since the past five The Goumukh glacier (Gangotri) is receding by about 5.5 metres per year. The melting ice on the Himalayas and not the temperamental rainfall, decides the depth and flow of the Ganga, and both these factors are adversely affected by climate change.

In the next 20 years if the world shortage of water reaches 40%, it will be 50% in India. According to a UN climate report, the Himalayan glaciers could disappear by 2030 if the temperature continues to rise. India stands to bear the brunt of some of the most devastating consequences of human-induced climate change. Although India’s contribution to anthropogenic green house gas emission is amongst the lowest in the world, it needs to adopt climate friendly technology which will generate both challenges and opportunities. To sustain its growth, Indians must make informed and voluntary decisions to build a low carbon economy, without significant adverse impact on its future development.

Development of renewable energy from nonconventional sources like nuclear, wind turbines, solar panels, biomass and the most efficient type of coal power plants will enhance India’s future progress. Nevertheless, should hydropower also join the list of renewable sources of energy, it must be

Public health concerns are increasing with the potentially serious or irreversible impact of climate change on health infrastructure and services, especially in the event of extreme conditions like droughts, flooding and storm. International research shows an increase of cardiopulmonary illnesses, malaria, food and waterborne diseases, while an estimated 80% of all health problems and one third of deaths in India are attributed to waterborne diseases.

A human development report has identified that 14 billion litres of sewage and industrial waste and 7 million tonnes of chemical fertilizers and pesticides are poured into the Ganga each year. The faecal coliform count of the Varanasi Ganga water is 10,000% higher than the government standard for safe river bathing.

The legacy of civilization places high value in preserving the environment and maintaining ecological balance. Despite its triumphs and tribulations, India has always remained in the forefront of this legacy.

The Indian government is mindful that global warming is weakening the glacier, which could lead to flash flooding and wipe out an entire village in an instant. To this end, the Indian government began the Ganga Action Plan in 1985, and reaffirmed its new declaration at the Climate Change and Health AGM in November 2009. The treaty on sharing the waters of the Ganga for 30 years was signed in 1996 between India and Bangladesh. It was hailed as a trendsetter move both nationally and internationally, a sign of friendship and goodwill. The Ganga joins the Meghna and Brahmaputra rivers in central Bangladesh, becoming the Padma river in the Bay of Bengal and forming a delta of 354 km shared by India and Bangladesh.

The state-of-the-art Ganga Gallery was created in Allahabad in 2008 aiming at research and dealing with issues like pollution. In October 2008 Prime Minister Manmohan Singh reiterated that the government will do all it can towards holistic environmental protection of the Ganga, although it is the duty of all Indians to maintain the river’s purity. Unfortunately, despite over Rs 24,000 crores spent on Ganga Action Plans I and II between 1985 and 2006, the holiest river is still sullied.

Nevertheless, the unrelenting dedication and commitment of the people and government to save Ganga has resulted in more enthusiasm. The Prime Minister has approved projects worth Rs 1.394.11 crores for Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal and Uttarkhand, a trajectory of the river. Global consultants have been invited to formulate an action plan to clean the Ganga and the World Bank has contributed $3 billion to manage the plan, with $1 billion agreed over the next decade.

The National Ganga River Basin Research Institute was established in Varanasi this year for sustainable development of the Ganga river basin in the region, and to investigate hydrology and pollution issues. In addition, they will study social, cultural and religious dimensions and work on developing eco-friendly technology. The centre is optimistic that by 2020, the polluted river Ganga will be cleaned at the cost of Rs 15,000 crores.

In April 2010, the Ganga Sparsh Abhiyan was inaugurated by BJP leader LK Advani, following a World Water Day human chain of 7km, reaffirming the participants’ pledge to save the Ganga.

In 2010, the Ganga Raksha Manch was also set up by spiritual heads, convened by world renowned Swami Ram Deo, coinciding with the Kumbh Mela in Haridwar. Empedocles (495-435 BC) a pre-Socrates philosopher suggested that the combining power of love and disrupting power of hate were the two ultimate forces of nature.

Fortunately for the Ganga, it is the compelling combining power of love which will ultimately save it.

In the confrontation between the stream and the rock the stream always wins - not through strength, but through persistence

HJacksonBrown