Bhopal Notes :: 49 :: Godmen and river conservation

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Concluding religious rituals being conducted on the river bank

Though I am advanced in age I happen to be markedly irreligious or, one might say, unspiritual. I do not go to temples, do not observe any religious routine at home and, like numerous others, I do not go out to spiritual congregations where the so-called godmen give discourses day after day. Godmen, somehow or other, get my goat especially after that nasty old man – Asa Ram Bapu, a wolf in human shape – was caught indulging in nefarious activties and is now cooling his heels in Bhopal’s Central Jail. He is perhaps the worst of his kind.

 One thought once his serial crimes against women is known to the people they would stop flocking around godmen of any kind. Sadly that did not happen. People, it seems, are in dire need of ethical and moral instructions by someone who looks and adorns himself as a spiritual kind. There seems to be a dire need for ethical pep talk as our society is getting soaked in venality, Many of those who hear him with patience could well be venal and corrupt. I have a belief that whoever has a catch in his personality unfailingly goes after these religious sermons in the hope getting pardon from the Almighty.

Recently, a spiritual leader had come and lectured in Bhopal. He apparently has the local chief minister as one of his followers as the latter ceremoniously received him at the airport and attended his first discourse. His discourses were covered in the vernacular press. From what I saw in the papers reporting on his statements somehow impressed me. I thought what he said about conservation of rivers was a kind of a slap on the face of the chief minister who is currently  running “Narmada Seva Yatra” that is claimed to be one of the biggest river conservation campaigns in the world.

What Murari Bapu, the spiritual leader, said was that instead of worshipping the rivers, people should “love” them if they wanted to conserve them. Hindus have always had an inclination to worship rivers calling them ‘Ma” or mother. At the same time they would abuse the rivers by polluting them, pumping sewage into them or mining sand from their banks and even from midstream.

Virtually, every big river, from Ganga and Jamuna to Narmada and Godavari and from Krishna to Kaveri, all and many more are considered holy and “aartis” (Hindu ritualized worship with the help of a number of brass oil lamps) are held on their banks. Simultaneously religious mantras are chanted collectively or devotional songs are sung in chorus by the assembled congregation, often broadcast with the help of loudspeakers.

 I have had occasions to witness such performances at Haridwar and Varanasi on the banks of the Ganga. Despite them Ganga remains as filthy and as polluted as ever; clothes are washed in it using toxic soaps, sewage and industrial effluents are channelized into it and half burnt dead bodies are thrown into it in the belief that the departed soul will find salvation. The decades-old Ganga Action Plan yielded very little as people generally do not care for Ganga – in Murari Bapu’s words, they do not “love” it enough. They use it as a channel to dispose of waste and rubbish.

This is true of most of the so-called holy rivers. Just as worshipping rivers is not enough, taking care of them in the way of the Narmada Seva Yatra proposes to do is also not enough. Prohibitive action needs to be taken in respect of that which damages the river.

If anything, sand mining in Narmada is the biggest cause of damage to the river and its ecology. The government of Madhya Pradesh has very cleverly skirted the issue and it has not mentioned a word in the “objectives” of the “Yatra” about banning illegal sand mining in, for example, Itarsi and Hoshangabad areas. That the River is being severely damaged because of the relentless sand mining does not seem to have registered with the government. Every other thing like flow of industrial effluents, encroachments destruction of forests, illegal tapping of its waters, etc. are mentioned but not sand mining.

One suspects, it has been omitted because political biggies are involved in exploiting this precious resource of the river. Unmindful of the damage it is doing to the river millions of tons of sand are excavated and dispersed to various parts of the state to feed the real estate industry. It is a big business; not only the illegal sand miners have been thriving, even the government officials working at various check points have prospered with the bribes that they get. Recent checks had revealed that among the illegal sand miners were many connected with politicians, even the ministers and their relatives.

Surprisingly it is not realised that Narmada cannot be conserved if it is stripped of its sands. One might establish sewage treatment plants wherever drains come and empty in the river, one might even take care of its catchments and plant a million trees on its banks but all these and many other steps would not be able to sustain the river unless sand mining in it is brought down to a sustainable level.

Smriti Kak Ramachandran, a journalist of note, had written in The Hindu that the environmental costs of illegal sand mining is far greater than what can be imagined. “From forcing the river to change its course, to affecting the groundwater tables and adversely impacting the habitat of micro-organisms, the ramifications of illegal sand mining are many.” Smt. Ramachandran has quoted Manoj Mishra of Yamuna Jiye Abhiyan who says “Sand is important for ground water recharge, on a riverbed it acts as a link between the flowing river and the water table and is part of the aquifer.” Mr. Mishra also says that illegally dredged sand is equivalent to robbing water. Sand holds a lot of water and when it is mindlessly mined and loaded on trucks a lot of water is lost. Negative impact of illegal sand mining far outweighs the economic benefits, says Himanshu Thakkar of the South Asia Network on Dams, Rivers and People.

Illegal mining of sand that is going on in a big way in the State in Chambal, Narmada or Betwa or numerous other rivers is likely to prove disastrous for the state in the long term. Agriculture might get adversely affected and the state may eventually turn out to be water-stressed. Sooner the government heeds the advice of Murari Bapu and starts respecting and loving the state’s rivers better it would be for the wellbeing of its people.

*Photo is from internet

10^th April 2017

Bhopal Notes :: 31 :: Only people will save Bhopal's environment

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The other day at the Late MN Buch Memorial Lecture when the guest speaker Pradip Krishan, the environmentalist, was taking questions from the audience subsequent to his very interesting talk a member of the audience fired a question at the Chief Secretary who presided over the function. The question was about chopping down of trees under the directions of the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly. The Chief Secretary was asked whether the plan to build plush quarters for MLAs had been given up. The CS said he had been informed by the Speaker that the plan had been shelved and, he said, one should take that as final. Apparently, the plan has not been given up, it has only been shelved and may get revived at an opportune moment.

Either the speaker, Dr. Sita Saran Sharma, is dim-witted or he has not been quite truthful. After having slaughtered a thousand trees he said that he had given orders to stop the process of chopping down 9000 more trees in view of the strong resentment of the people. The trees were reportedly surreptitiously cut down and when it was flashed in the print media people in the government sat up. Chief Minister is reported to have spoken to the speaker. In all probability the latter got a mouthful and was asked to stop the whole thing. The speaker had no alternative but to stop further felling of trees and, as a face-saver, said he had taken the action in view of the "jan bhavana", public sentiments. As if he did not know about the "jan bhavana" which was so strongly expressed only two weeks ago that the chief minister had to shift the location of the proposed “smart city” approved by the Centre from the tree covered Shivajinaar and Tulsinagar areas.

This is not the first time that the proposal to build residences for the honourable members was shot down. Earlier a similar plan to cut down a large number of trees near the existing well-spread out colony of the members had to be given up because of public resistance. This time the plan was changed and an area behind the Assembly building on Arera Hills was chosen. However, this time everything seems to have been done by stealth so much so that even the watchful media didn't get wind of it. Even though the detailed project report was not ready what they did was to have thousand-odd trees cut down. This is what happens every time. Whether the project is ready or not trees are the ones which face the axe immediately.

June 5 was Environment Day and as usual the chief minister mouthed his hypocritical commitments for conservation of the environment. His government is perhaps the worst in so far as environmental conservation is concerned. All the time there is an assault on environment. If this happens even in Bhopal where people, media and NGOs are so watchful, one shudders to imagine the conditions elsewhere in the state from where resistance, if any, will come off a whole lot muted. Reports keep appearing in the press of illegal felling of trees at various places in the state.

Here in Bhopal trees are felled at any and every pretext so much so that green cover that was once 92% has come down to 22% in a matter of a few decades and soon it may touch a measly 11% in a year or two. Encroachments and constructions on the periphery and catchment area of the Bhoj Wetland, the lifeline of the city, continue unhindered. The report submitted by the Centre of Environmental Planning and Technology of Ahmedabad for conservation of the Lake was submitted two years ago. No decision has been taken on it as it does not suit the government and the builders’ lobby. The report is stated to be under examination by the government. If they take years to study a report without coming to any conclusion, they might as well give up on appointing consultants. The Citizens’ Forum and others had to approach the National Green Tribunal in order to force the government to release the report.

 Greatest damage has been done to the Lake during the tenure of this government. If the government continues in the same vein in so far as the Upper Lake is concerned we might as well say good bye to it. Concerted efforts are being made to make use of the land in the catchments of the Lake where no constructions are allowed but encroachments reportedly are all the time taking place.

 And the fire at Khanti, the city's landfill, continues to rage impairing the health and well-being of those who live and work aound it. The city' air is becoming as foul as that of Delhi but no steps have been taken for mitigation of air pollution. I have on numerous occasions seen the vans for checking vehicular emissions waiting forlornly for custom. There is no compulsion on vehicle owners to have their emissions checked. Besides, while recently bought vehicle are generally checked auto rickshaws and trucks or delivery vans that emit most of the smoke are never seen around these vans. All these seem to be minor matters for the government for which conducting of Simhastha Mela and, later, elections to the Rajya Sabha were of greater importance. There is such a lack of governance.

It has now come down to one rather uncomfortable fact and that it depends on the people to make the government to move and act. By itself it seems to be unable to take any decision acceptable to the people. I remember that few years ago when some of us members of the Citizens’ Forum met the Chief Minister he had told us that as long as he was there he would not allow anything adverse happening to the Lake. But now it is his own government seems to be hell-bent on destroying it.

 Clearly collectively people, the media and other social groups will have to be very very watchful for proper conservation of the city’s environment.

*Photo from the internet

A President's priority

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An abandoned ship near the Lake

Saving a dying lake was the first cabinet decision of the newly-elected Iranian president, Hussain Rouhani. Every other matter of vital importance to the country, including the issues surrounding its nuclear programme, was kept aside and action to prevent the nation's largest lake from disappearing assumed greater importance.

Lake Oroumieh is one of the biggest salt water lakes in the world. Over the years it has shrunk more than 80% to about 1000 square kilometres. The main causes put out by the experts are climate change, expanding irrigation and damming of rivers that feed the lake. Lakes in other parts of Iran are also facing similar crisis

The Iranian president's action indicates the importance he attaches to environment in general and water bodies in particular. Quite obviously he believes that water is life-sustaining and nothing could be of greater importance than securing it for his people That he

A view of the drying Lake

gave overriding priority to saving the Lake over myriad other problems the country is facing internally as well as externally says much about his vision and commitment to the cause of country's environment.

In India the head of the government, totally committed to GDP growth, has been mostly unconcerned about damage to environment so much so that he removed two ministers who happened to be heading the ministry of environment. Both were trying to protect the country's forests from the rapacious industry.

Another view of the Lake

Closer home the state chief minister of Madhya Pradesh, too, is unconcerned about environment. While his government has been merrily feeding the real estate lobby with prime forest and farm lands, he has allowed the thousand year old lake, unlike Lake Oroumieh a drinking water source, to slowly die. For the Iranian president saving the Lake Oroumieh was a national priority, saving the Bhopal lake does not figure anywhere in the chief minister's priorities.

All photos form the Internet