It is seldom
that the local papers are critical of the way the government and its agencies
deal with the precious natural asset of Bhoj Wetland and its two lakes. Mostly,
all critical reports would either be kept under wraps or, at best, be tempered down. As a departure
from normal, however, the vernacular and the English language print media came
out rather strongly against the government’s handling of issues relating
conservation of the Wetland before, during and after the recent International
Conference on Wetlands and Lakes.
The most scathing report was the one that appeared
in a premier English language newspaper regarding the contents of the research
paper that was read on the last day of the Conference by Prof. Ashwani
Wanganeo, Head of the Department of Environmental Sciences & Limnology in
the Barkatullah University. The presence of Dr. Wanganeo at the Conference took
me by surprise as hitherto he had scrupulously been kept by the government at
more than an arm’s length. While we in the Citizens’ Forum would go over to him
for consultations and advice the government would always give him a wide berth.
He has been in demand internationally but the state government never sought his
expertise. The government, probably, never found him amenable enough and was,
presumably, not quite happy with his forthrightness.
Exposing the lies of the government and its
agencies, he stated in his paper that “100% of human wastes” from several wards
of the city continue to be dumped into the Lake as do lakhs of litres of urine.
Besides, religious festivals “see materials like clay, clothes, paper, wood and
insoluble paints containing harmful substances playing havoc with the health of
the Upper Lake.” Drains and nullahs continue to flow into the Lake and emphasis
on tourism has fostered growth of “infrastructure not in harmony with the
environment, causing huge negative impact”.
It is the same old story. Year after year concerned
citizens and their representatives have been bringing all these issues to the
fore without any concrete remedial action by the government. That at the end of
the festival season the Lake gets overloaded with heavy metals, as reported
year after year by the local Pollution Control Board, has had no impact on its
babus. So far it has not been able bar PoP images from being immersed in these
waters.
Besides, the government recklessly promoted
“tourism” and created all kinds of “unwise” infrastructure like Sair Sapata,
attracting thousands of visitors to the Lake side generating huge amounts of
waste that eventually go down and pollute the waters. The government, despite a
ban, has also allowed plying of motorised boats against all environmental norms
for a drinking water source.
It is strange that the wise men of the government
do not realise that by hiding the “Jheel Mahotsav” behind a fig leaf of its
stated purpose of “creation of awareness among the people for conservation of
the Lake” was an exercise to mislead the people or, maybe, even an exercise in
self-deception. And, organising international conferences out of the blue for
no apparent reasons at enormous costs to the exchequer cannot conserve the
all-important water body. They do not seem to realise that what is needed are
concrete measures which the experts within and outside the government have
delineated on several occasions earlier. Or, probably, the men in the
government just don’t care.
Reports indicate that multiple departments handling
the issues relating to the Lake forked out Rs. 5 crore for the Conference and
Jheel Mahotsav whereas the government couldn’t spare just a crore for buying a
dredger, a proposal for which is pending for long. The government’s apathy is
evident from the fact that more than a crore of interest earned in 2009-10 on
the unspent amount of the Bhoj Wetland Project mostly remained unused as only
Rs. 6 lakh could be used for conservation of the Lake.
No effective institutional structure has been
created for planned conservation of the Lake even after a decade of
unsuccessful completion of the Bhoj Wetland Project. Even the Master Plan
prepared by the Centre for Science and Environment was blocked for political
and other shady interests. Grossly inadequately equipped organisation has been
left to its own devices.
International conferences or any number of “jheel
mahotsavs” or a Hollywood-style signage and attempts to window-dress the Lake
are not efforts at conservation. These are only attempts to screen the truth
from the people. The government, since it came to power in 2004, has
scrupulously avoided taking effective measures towards its conservation and has
brought it down to the level of a septic tank. Unashamedly, it is forcing half
the population of the city to drink its highly polluted water.
That the Lake is “dying a slow, painful death” is
what describes its condition accurately. In fact, it is at the terminal stage.
Only an unlikely miracle can turn it around.
No comments:
Post a Comment