Open Forum
New Delhi, 13 October 2017
Rejuvenation of Rivers
CHALLENGE TO POLITICS, FAITH
By Dr S Saraswathi
(Former Director, ICSSR, New Delhi)
The Union Government has plans to clean all
rivers in the country -- a task urgently required, but most difficult to
accomplish. Expectations are high from new Minister for Water Resources, River
Development, and Ganga Rejuvenation Nitin Gadkari, who seems to be keen on
taking up a challenging task. Adopting the Ganga Law and starting five
river-linking projects that are in the pipeline are among his priorities.
Cleaning rivers is part of rejuvenation of
rivers which has been going on all over the world in very small to long and
deep rivers in all continents. Water scarcity and environmental degradation
have drawn the attention of governments, NGOs, and general public to the
urgency of restoring and cleaning water resources that nature has bestowed.
There are some popular leaders and voluntary
organisations engaged in creating awareness and initiating popular schemes for restoring
dwindling water resources in our country which are indeed our lifeline. One
such group, The Art of Living, is reported to have taken up over 30 projects in
which hundreds of volunteers are participating.
Launching a nationwide campaign for “Rally
for Rivers”, a social leader remarked that we have today 75 per cent less water
per person than in 1947 and almost 25 per cent of India is turning into a
desert. The common man facing acute water problem in all States is inclined to
believe these figures and does not look for verification. It is feared that
very soon, perennial waters will become seasonal.
Remember, a recent verdict pronounced by the Nainital
Court in Uttarakhand granted to the Ganges and Yamuna the same legal rights as
enjoyed by human beings with all corresponding rights, duties, and liabilities.
How they can be enforced and who is the custodian of the right to protect them are,
however, still vague.
This verdict is doubtless one of far-reaching
significance in many respects in the context of the pathetic condition of many
rivers including the holiest of the holy. It follows the example of Whanganui River
in New Zealand, a river revered by indigenous Maori people as sacred, which has
been declared as a living entity with full legal rights by the Government of
New Zealand by a law passed in Parliament. The law blocks hydro-electric
projects. Ecuador in South America is the first country in the world to secure
the rights of nature in 2008 in its Constitution called “Panchamama”. In 2011, Bolivia
enacted the Law of Mother Earth.
The situation in India definitely cannot
correct itself by natural cycles since human activities are day by day adding
to global warming and climate change which will only worsen conditions. Faith-related polluting activities and political
rivalry in sharing water add ammunition to people’s ignorance and pose a
combined challenge to the very future of rivers.
Relevant in this connection is a silent
movement against dam construction in some places. “It is time to give permanent
protection to free flowing rivers”, is the idea of activists leading a movement
to decommission dams in the US. Dam removal in Elwha River in Washington,
claimed as a big success, is the world’s largest dam removal project. In 1992,
dam removal was approved by a legislation and two dams on the river were
dismantled by 2012 restoring the eco system.
Between 1990 and 2015, over 900 dams are
reported to have been removed in the US. Every year 50 to 60 dam dismantling
operations are being taken up primarily for restoring the natural eco system.
This is indeed unbelievable in India where dam wars are common between States
fighting for share of water.
France and Canada have also removed dams. Japan
embarked on a similar project in the Arase Dam on the Kuma River in 2012. Over
5,000 large dams around the world were counted as over 50 years of age in 1996.
By 2020, 85 per cent of dams in the US alone would have crossed 50 years and
would require reconditioning.
On the contrary, Asian countries are busy
constructing dams as the best solution to their water scarcity problem. India
is no exception having built nearly 3200 major/medium dams and barrages since
2012. There are over 100 dams of various sizes in the Cauvery basin. It
requires a combined analysis by experts from all disciplines to examine the
safe limits of human intervention in nature’s course.
Israel has earned unique reputation for
innovative water management in which government, industry, and academia work
closely together. It has a highly centralised system of water governance to
manage the needs of different fields of activity. Under Israel’s Water Law,
“nature” is in the list of “legitimate recipients of fresh water allocation”
along with agriculture, industry, and households. Standards are continuously
improved in the quantum and quality of water.
India is several times bigger than Israel and
has a federal system with strong State units keen on serving State interests. Its
water problems are too big to make any meaningful comparison with Israel or
transplanting its model of operation. Still, strategies to ensure coherence and
coordination between varied interests may be learnt. Shifting the item “water”
concerning aspects of storage and water power from the State to the Central
List in the Constitution is no solution given the way party politics and water
politics are played in the country.
Rejuvenation of rivers in the country is
understood by the common men as restoring the original vigour of rivers, that
is, making them younger and removing or at least lessening impurities and their
sources. In technical language of geomorphology, a river is said to be
rejuvenated when it is eroding the landscape and lowering its base level. Base
level of river water flow can change in two ways – uplift of land or lowering
of the sea. Tectonic activities also result in land uplift.
Deterioration in rivers is caused over
several years by steady increase of human intervention in the name of custom,
religion, and development, but rejuvenation is being planned as direct
operation at the site of rivers.
Germany has played an enormous role in
rejuvenating the Rhine River which passes through many countries and was once
declared the dirtiest river. It provides the incentive for Clean Ganga project
which seems to require the blessings of some divine power.
Dravyavati River Rejuvenation Project in
Jaipur, is a pioneering attempt to restore a river from dry and arid landscape.
It aims at cleaning the water, augmenting ground water as well as preventing
flooding. It will improve acqua life and create better aesthetic surrounding.
The project will also widen the channel.
Karnataka has adopted a water conservation
plan tried in north-east Maharashtra known as “Shirpur Plan” which is hailed as
a miracle cure for drought. It involves recharging wells using water from
canals, building check dams on streams, and dredging rivers to increase their
capacity to store water. But, its suitability for Karnataka cannot be taken for
granted.
Uncoordinated local schemes for “protection” of
rivers going on in the country can also yield good results provided political
rivalry and bureaucratic pressure respond to the gravity of the situation and people’s
sentiments and greed are not allowed to destroy natural wealth.--INFA
(Copyright, India
News & Feature Alliance)
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