Both the Ganga and the Yamuna have been thoroughly polluted, and we alone are responsible for it. But with bold decisions translated into efficient delivery, we can still infuse life into our decaying rivers, writes SK Kumar
The Mahakumbh, which concluded in Allahabad earlier this year, has no parallel in the world, going by its sheer size of human congregation. Precisely on that account, it attracted global attention, with prestigious institutions like Harvard praising the authorities for efficient crowd management over a two-and-a-half month period. But the real reason of the success lies elsewhere.
The Mahakumbh is not just another fair. People flock here every 12 years from places far and wide for a ritualistic dip in the holy Sangam, the confluence of the Ganga, the Yamuna and the invisible Saraswati, which according to their implicit faith, would lead to eternal salvation.
All other services and facilities provided would be redundant if the rivers remained unable to provide sufficient flow of reasonably clean water for that holy dip. And this was exactly the scenario a few days before the start of the big event.
Ganga and Yamuna are perennial rivers, but their flow during January to March — the Kumbh period — dwindles to a minimum, rising only with the snow-melt later. The water depth, therefore, was shallow in the Ganga at Allahabad. To make matters worse, this insufficient flow was sluggish, replete with impurities and wastes we have been dumping into our rivers with complete impunity. These rivers have become almost dry wherever water is diverted for power generation or irrigation.
The prospect of insufficient and dirty water reaching Allahabad for the Kumbh and its fall-out were too daunting for the Government to face. Therefore, it decided to rehabilitate and rejuvenate the Ganga — albeit for only two-and-a-half months of the Mahakumbh — a successful effort that strengthened the belief that with bold decisions translated into efficient delivery, we can still infuse life into all our decaying rivers.
Strict orders were issued, starting from the Prime Minister’s level, that no untreated effluent of any kind — industrial, tanneries, butcheries etc, will be allowed to outfall in the Ganga or any of its tributaries in the entire length upstream of Allahabad. Commissioners and District Magistrates were made responsible for it. Bureaucratic track-record notwithstanding, strict compliance was ensured this time. Defaulting units were asked to shut down until they took remedial measures to treat the effluent.
Water flow in the Ganga was augmented by curtailing the share of irrigation. The reduction was not to deprive crops of their essential requirement of water, yet farmers used to wasteful rather than efficient management of water, could have agitated against the cut. Still, the Government’s decision was bold and eco-friendly.
Also, treatment of sewage prior to its flow into the rivers was made mandatory for all towns along the river Ganga. Allahabad installed the largest number of sewage treatment plants which kept the outflow into the river totally uncontaminated. These efforts bore fruit. During the entire period of the Kumbh, water-flow in the Ganga had sufficient depth and was reasonably clean. And this, more than anything else, was the real success of the Mahakumbh.
But true to our traditional mindset, every good initiative lacks sustainability. The Mahakumbh provided a rare opportunity to resurrect, restore and rejuvenate the holy river, but because of our lack of political and administrative will and tendency to fall back on ‘business as usual’, we have lost the advantage.
Take, for example, the STPs. Their basic requirement is easy access for sewage to reach the plants for treatment. For this, there should be an underground sewerage network from where sewage can be intercepted and brought to the plants for treatment and outflow of safe effluent into the river. While towns have been vying with each other to build STPs — presumably to utilise allotted funds — there is hardly any underground sewerage system in place. The same is the story of untreated toxic industrial effluent which is finding its way into the Ganga. If the Government machinery could enforce discipline on errant industries for a couple of months, why can’t it sustain itIJ
Re-evaluating water requirement for irrigation is another crucial issue. Irrigation takes 83 per cent of our depleting fresh water resources. We need a second Green Revolution which is water-economic. Combining it with new water application technologies like automated sprinkler, drip, watershed management, virtual water-based crop calendar etc, as well as curbing seepage and evaporation losses, would substantially reduce water demand in agriculture sector without compromising on productivity.
All is not lost yet. The Kumbh is only a few weeks behind us and it is still inspiring enough to perpetuate what has been tried, tested and found successful. We can — and must — gear up and keep the Ganga alive. This will also be a beacon of hope for the newly-launched Yamuna Action Plan, as also for other rivers of this land which are slowly but steadily dying.
(The writer is a former Chief Engineer, Irrigation, Uttar Pradesh)