From Worship to Exploitation: Ganga’s Journey Reflects India’s Environmental Hypocrisy

It is an honour for me to speak at the Jawahar Bhawan, dedicated to the iconic man. I did not see him, but whatever I read about him through his writings has made an everlasting impression on me. I want to quote Jawahar Lal Nehru from his ‘Will’.

He says,

‘My desire to have a handful of my ashes thrown into the Ganga at Allahabad has no religious significance, so far as I am concerned. I have no religious sentiment in the matter. I have been attached to the Ganga and Jamuna [Jumna] Rivers in Allahabad ever since my childhood and, as I have grown older, this attachment has also grown. I have watched their varying moods as the seasons changed, and have often thought of the history myth and tradition and song and story that have become attached to them through the long ages and become part of their flowing waters. The Ganga, especially, is the river of India, beloved by her people, round which are intertwined her racial memories, her hopes and fears, her songs of triumph, her victories and her defeats. She has been a symbol of India’s age‐long culture and civilization, ever-changing, ever-flowing, and yet ever the same Ganga. She reminds me of the snow‐covered peaks and the deep valleys of the Himalayas, which I have loved so much, and of the rich and vast plains below, where my life and work have been cast.

My cultural association with Ganga

I was born in a place which is the confluence of two small rivers, tributaries of the Ganges, and from where river Kho begins its journey which is a tributary of the Ram Ganga river. And first time, I saw Ganga at Muni-ki-Reti and Lakshman Jhula near Rishikesh when I was just seven years old. The first sight of Ganga mesmerized me. Then I realized, how it is part and parcel of life of people in Uttarakhand.

I was perplexed to see that the movement to protect the Ganga did not get any public sympathy in Uttarakhand. I did not understand why a state where Ganga is deeply rooted in our psyche remains untouched by the atrocities being committed in the name of ‘development’. Was there a disconnect between people and ‘intellectuals’ or ‘experts’ as usually happens everywhere the result is this journey which I tried to cover every part, every confluence that Ganga had with its tributaries and distributries.

The Ganga in the Himalayas

Formally, I started the journey in September 2021 by trekking from Gangotri to Bhojwasa on the way to Gaumukh and covered almost all the major rivers of Uttarakhand including Yamuna, Tons, Gauriganga, Kali-Sharda etc. Before that, I travelled to all the Prayags and valleys of beautiful Dhauli Ganga, Mandakini, Nandakini, Pinder, Alaknanda and Bhagirathi. That made this journey unique. It took nearly four years to cover this hence this is not merely a journey touching some point and returning but attempting to understand the crisis on Ganga and its tributaries.

From Gangotri to the Bay of Bengal, I saw a massive civilizational crisis emerging and if that is not addressed, we will be in deep trouble. Ganga is the biggest river in India and its plain is the most fertile land where the farmers have flourished and millions of people depending on water have gained life. The biodiversity of the river Ganga remains unparalleled.

Projects on Ganga and Chipko Movement

In Uttarakhand, Ganga and its tributaries face threats from various hydropower projects because they snatch the beauty of the river, control its water and impact the rich biodiversity of the river. A trip to Niti Valley and Lata and Raini villages, the epicentres of the Chipko movement, gave me the idea of what is wrong with those who romanticize a movement without understanding the nature of the movement. Chipko was the cry of the native communities for their access to forest produce which they used to enjoy before Indo-China war in 1962 when people had access to the Tibetan market and vice versa. There was a huge market for domestic products, forest produce among others. A large number of villagers got dislocated and all the passes to Tibet were closed. The other side of the story is that the government continued with the British policy of auctioning the forests. So every year Symonds company would obtain the forest produce, chop the trees mercilessly and take them out of the state. Gaura Devi and her Saathis protested against this in Raini and threw the contractors out. This was welcomed by all in Uttarakhand and the movement got highlighted. HN Bahuguna, the chief minister, called some of the ‘activists’, mostly the Brahmanical elite, to Lucknow for a conversation. The auctioning of ‘private’ was stopped when a new boss was created which was ‘Uttar Pradesh Van Nigam’ which made the lives of the people more miserable. While many people got names and fame internationally, the native people were fighting and had to resort to the ‘Chheeno Jhapto’ movement to gain access to the forest. HN Bahuguna therefore was the biggest villain of this who looked down upon this movement and tried to sabotage it. The problem with the intellectuals and their devotees in the media is that they ignored that this movement was led by the Adivasis-janjati people. The history of the Chipko movement is that of those people, the Bhutiyas and others but their issues and role were conspicuously obliterated from the popular discourse and the movement was romanticized as the ‘protection of trees’ and ‘environment’. World over, it is the indigenous communities who are dependent on forests and it is they who nurture it. No community would ever nurture mountains and rivers without using them. It needs to be understood that the relationship between native communities and nature is their inter-dependencies and this issue was grossly ignored and underestimated by the environmental elite.

Ganga and its various tributaries shine in Uttarakhand. The confluences of different rivers are unparalleled and stunning but sadly they will disappear once different barrages and dams that are proposed start functioning. There was a beautiful Sangam of Bhilangana with Bhagirathi at Tehri which is not visible now. There is a beautiful Sangam of river Gori with Kali at Joljibi in Pithoragarh. If Pancheshwar dams come through, then some of these beautiful places and confluences will disappear. The Sangam of Rupin and Supin river at Netwar in Uttarakhand which starts the journey of Tons is supremely beautiful but a dam near the confluence is bound to finish them off. Nobody denies the importance of energy but we also need to think that the Himalayas and its rivers are not merely our ‘Resource’ but our heritage, our identity particularly for the people living in these regions. So, my simple point to the power elite is to stop destroying our identity. The destruction of the Himalayas will bring an unprecedented crisis to Gangetic plains in India so we must not do anything that escalates the crisis we are already facing.

The crisis in the Gangetic plains of Uttar Pradesh

The Gangetic Plains of Uttar Pradesh will suffer in future with desertification. Ganga loses its shine once it enters Balawali, Bijnor district. Travel to this region and onward during the summer, and you will realise how the Ganga water has drastically reduced and agricultural land and green pastures have been converted into a desert. Water at Garhmukteshwar remains merely for the rituals and the pollution increases every inch it passes. By the time it reaches Kannauj and has its first confluence with Ramganga, you can walk through the river Ramganga. Reaching the confluence has been difficult because of the changing embankment of the river. A local farmer told me at the confluence that it is not the ‘kheti (farming) but reti (sand mining) which is rampant and a ‘source’ of earning for even the farmers. This reflects the sad state of the crisis. A few kilometres onwards, we are at historic Bithoor which is now more known as a ‘religious’ place to ensure the magnetism of religion. Suddenly, you feel wonderful to see ‘water’ in the river. A couple of boats are visible and again we see the beauty of the river Ganga but our fear is found true. About seven kilometres from Bithoor is the Ganga Barrage on the Kanpur Unnao border. While there is enough water to quench your religious thirst at Bithoor, at Kanpur the river looks dry with huge sand beds. You won’t be able to recognize the river from the original embankments. Moreover, Kanpur which is called the Manchester of the East, is actually, contributing the biggest ‘sewage’ water to the Ganga and looks like the Sewage tributary of the Ganga. The river stinks on the ghats. It is very disturbing to see that ‘Ghats’ have been constructed with the ‘Namami Gange’ project but no efforts were visible to improve the plight of the holy river. All it reflects is that we want to worship the river from a nicely built place but don’t bother about the crisis that the river is facing.

The patch between Allahabad and Varanasi via Vindhyachal is beautiful and the water is less contaminated perhaps because Yamuna is bigger in Allahabad and carries more water from Chambal in it which is an unpolluted river but at Varanasi, we see devastating pollution in the river. We are told that two ‘rivers’ flow into Ganga in Varanasi: Assi Ganga and Varuna.  A visit to the ‘confluence’ of them only shows the hypocrisy of those who call them ‘rivers. They have been turned into absolute sewage ‘rivers’, and further pollute Ganga.

Ganga at Varanasi

At Varanasi, the Mahaarti has been commercialized. It became a ‘light and sound show’ and not that spiritual power which it used to be once upon a time. Big-money people use trawlers and cruises to watch it while the other common people have to pay a huge sum to watch it from the back. It was a sad scenario.

Between Varanasi to the Gomti, Ganga and Sangam is again a pathetic site. There is no water in Gomti and it is a very polluted river. There are lots of birds on the island zones in the Sangam. Ganga’s entry into Bihar is via Buxar and just a few kilometres before the city is Chausa, a historic town where Sher Shah Suri’s forces had defeated Humanyun. The so-called memorial is nothing but being made a ‘selfie park’. All memorials and historical places are carefully being converted into amusement parks everywhere and mythological characters are being created as historical figures and events. Again, the Karmnasha-Ganga confluence shows the terrible state of agriculture in the region. It was the deadly heat of June and Karmnasha was looking like a dry stream flowing into Ganga. The agricultural land showed signs of ‘cracks’ even when we would see numerous birds chirping near the confluence. Sewage continues to flow into the river in Buxar too.

Massive sand mining in Bihar

But the biggest challenge, I saw on our rivers was in a historic place called Chirand in Saran district where Ghaghara, Son River flows into Ganga. The confluence zone has shifted a few kilometres again. From Revelganj to Chirand, on the National Highway, huge smoke of dust welcomes you apart from the huge lane of big trucks used for carrying Sand. On the bank of river Ghaghara, which locals call Saryu, you can see hundreds of cargo streamers used for carrying sand from the river. Any person who is not habitual of staying in these zones would just collapse as breathing becomes impossible. The Red Sand from River Son is the most popular. It is also a fact that the Sand mafia has political protection. It is time for sensitization of people as well as stricter environmental norms imposed otherwise this region too waits for a catastrophe. Similar conditions can be seen around the Hariharpur Sonpur area where Ganga and Narayani Gandaki conflate. Sonepur was famous for the cattle fair but that is a thing of the past now. It is merely a fair which is more as a time pass for the locals and others who visit the famous shrine in Hariharpur.

The river Ganga in Patna looks polluted. Patna itself is a polluted city. From there till Munger, we can see Ganga splitting at various places and huge sandy river beds everywhere. The summer in these regions is extremely difficult with massive dust in the air. Most of the agricultural land is turning barren. The water level in the river is reducing resulting in an extension of its breadth and creation of the sandy patches or islands in between. You can see huge bridges across Ganga but the river looks tiny, the only time it looks like a river is during the monsoon season. Mokama, Begusarai and Khagaria present an abysmal picture but the biggest shock was at Kosi Ganga Sangam which is difficult to reach due to the river bed turning sandy. To reach the area is difficult. On a normal winter or summer, the water at the confluence is extremely low and the river looks dirty too. Again, the breadth of the river increases. However, from Manihari in Katihar to Sahibganj, a tip on the Cargo Ship is worth remembering though it is difficult to cruise because of the water level it will work till the bridge connecting Sahibganj and Manihari is completed.

Historical Rajmahal

However, the most fascinating part of the river Ganges in Bihar is South Bihar. Munger which itself is a historical place but the old fort area is encroached and you will find no effort to preserve the historical architecture and buildings. The river from Munger to Bhagalpur and Kahalganon is phenomenal. It is a treat to watch. It looks less polluted and is called ‘Uttar Vahini’ at Sultanganj where the historical Ajgaibinath temple is located. Bhagalpur is an extremely important location where enough evidence exists of our Buddhist, Adivasi and Jain past. There are historical places. The most beautiful regions are Kahalgaon and Vikramshila. It was reported that from Sultanganj to Kahalgaon, the Bihar government has declared the entire area as a ‘Dolphin Sanctuary’. The fisherfolk are protesting against it as they lose their right to fishing. Ganga Mukti Abhiyan started from this place fighting against the Zamindari on water and finally, Lalu Prasad Yadav as chief minister of Bihar ended that cruel system imposed during the British period that looted the fisher communities of the region but the lives of the fish workers were not safe. Zamindari has gone but Rangdari has started. People still fear.

Sahibganj is the only Ganga district in Jharkhand. Ganga is massive between Manihari to Sahibganj. There is an international port and a domestic but perhaps under-utilised. The water level is still not that much which can ensure an easy passage. Secondly, Ganga split more in Jharkhand. Various streams split and joined again. The most important place of the Ganga journey in Jharkhand is Raj Mahal, a very historical place, the former capital of undivided Bengal under the Mughal King Akbar era. Raja Man Singh was made the Viceroy of Bengal and it is he who established Rajmahal as the capital of the state. It still has a few landmarks like Jami Mosque, Baradari and many other places which still need deep care as they remind us of our rich historical legacies.

Between Raj Mahal and Farakka, the Gumani River rising from the Raj Mahal hills ultimately merges with Ganga and then moves towards Farakka. The link road between Rajmahal and Farakka is in extremely bad shape during the last 10 kilometers perhaps because it is the area of coal mining and thermal power plant. Again, the air is filled with dust and smoke most of the time in a nearly 10-kilometre area. One can just imagine the lives of people during the summers here.

The one point on which the fisherfolks from Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and Jharkhand unite is the issue of Farakka Barrage. They want this barrage to be decommissioned as it has damaged the fish diversity in the river above Farakka. Hilsa is not available to fisherfolks in UP, Bihar and Jharkhand. After Farakka, fisherfolks claim that they get it but due to the closure of gates at the Barrage, Hilsa and other fish can’t move back. Many farmers too reflected that due to the barrage a large part of land in Jharkhand and Bengal face flooding in monsoon. The impact of Monsoon floods is tremendous in Bihar and Bengal and governments have so far not been able to reach any particular conclusion or solution so that human lives or agricultural land is not lost. Every year, soil erosion has already engulfed thousands of acres of land and made people landless. It is time to seriously think about these issues and protect our communities, farmers, fish workers and others living near the river.

Ganga in Bengal: Rise of Bhagirathi

The journey of the Ganges in Bengal is extremely important to understand the issue of climate change. The split in the rivers became the norm. Right from Nimtita town, the Ganges becomes too wide and split into two parts. The river flows towards Bangladesh and is known as Padma there while the second part of the river again splits at Giria and is known as Bhagirathi which then travels to different districts from Murshidabad, Plassey, Nabadwip where again Jalangi meet it and the new river is known as Hooghly. The interesting part is that there are towns on both sides of Hooghly. There is history. Nabadweep is the birthplace of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. After passing through many places the Hooghly ultimately flows into the Bay of Bengal in the Sundarban region. The place where it merges into the sea is known as Ganga Sagar but Sagar Dweep itself has numerous issues of climate crisis. Many villages have disappeared and many might disappear in future as the water level of the sea is rising regularly.

To conclude, I would say, that preserving Ganga is extremely important for the health of India as it emerges from the Himalayas and finally flows into the Bay of Bengal near the Sundarbans. Both the Himalayas and Sundarban are world heritage. The impact of climate change is visible in both of these places. The question is whether the so-called climate change is a natural process or human made disaster. The number of commercial activities in the Himalayas as well as in Sundarban are bound to impact all of us.

We need to think beyond the boxes but certainly not to convert the entire issue of Ganga and climate change to merely confined to ‘experts. It is time we engage and involve the local communities, fishermen, farmers and other native communities dependent on the river and its surroundings as without their active participation in any debate or decision-making processes, we won’t be able to do anything meaningful. Save the Ganga slogan means protecting and preserving the Himalayas and Sundarbans apart from all the big and small rivers and riverine that make Ganga.

The talk was delivered at Jawahar Bhawan, New Delhi, on November 18th, 2024, organized by the Rajiv Gandhi Institute for Contemporary Studies.