Why rally for rivers needs more ‘cusecs candidate’

The  rivers of this nation are dying and need immediate public support and  government commitment to save them. Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev, who  was in  the city to seek public support for his “Rally for Rivers” campaign, said  this while emphasizing that everyone who consumed water must contribute  towards the revival of rivers. 

Dwelling  on the importance of the preservation and rejuvenation of Indian  rivers, the Sadhguru expressed concern that even the perennial streams  were turning into seasonal ones and wanted the rivers to be treated as  national treasure.

The  concerns of the Sadhguru are not out of place. Water is closely related to  the development of human civilization, which originated mostly in river  valleys. Almost all major cities of the world are located on the banks  of rivers or sea-shores. In India, rivers have a close relationship with  the lives of the people. The names of five rivers are chanted during  religious rituals: “Ganga cha, Yamuna Cha-Iva Godavari Saraswati; Narmada, Sindhu, Kaveri Jale, Asmin Samnidhim Kuru” (O  holy rivers Ganga and Yamuna and also Godavari, Saraswati; Narmada,  Sindhu and Kaveri, please be present in the water near me).  

A  dip on sacred occasions at places like the Sangam in Allahabad is  regarded as of great significance. “Ganga Snan” is a term every Indian  is familiar with and industrial centres, tourist spots, even cremation  grounds are all located on the river banks.

But  the rivers have been getting polluted. Discharge of industrial  effluents and civic waste are among the factors along with depletion of  green cover that have affected the rivers. The state of the holy Kali  Bein in Punjab and its revival through the efforts of Sant Balbir Singh  Seechewal is lore. At Budge-Budge in Kolkata where I once happened to  visit to see the Komagata Maru memorial, oil discharge was clearly  visible in the Hooghly waters and the colour was far different than what one sees at Haridwar and Rishikesh. Similarly, in Delhi, one does not  have to be an expert to see the polluted state of the Yamuna.

So,  the concern over saving the rivers is justified. One suggestion to save  the rivers has been to inter-link them. The suggestion itself is not  new.  

In  fact, Dr KL Rao, a renowned engineer who designed the Nagarjuna Sagar  dam, the world’s longest masonry dam on the river Krishna and also served as Union Minister for Irrigation and Power, wrote in the preface  of “India’s Water Wealth”,  “It is a folly to presume that India has an inexhaustible supply of  water resources, because most water of major rivers is not available for  use. Similarly, the water of many minor streams cannot be fully  utilized. Therefore, an intensive study is needed to develop the water  resources in a planned and balanced way.”

The  maximum use to which river water is put to use is agriculture, of which  irrigation is the main component, accounting for nearly 80 per cent of  demand. In the form of river streams, the total water available in India  is 1,780 lakh hectare metre but the annual per capita water availability has come down from 5,177 cubic metres in 1951 to 1,545  cubic metres in 2011.

Dr  KL Rao, who wrote his memoir “Cusecs candidate”, proposed the plan for a national water grid in 1972. The plan  divided the country into four regions. A Ganga-Cauvery canal scheme was  proposed. Its cost was estimated at Rs 12,500 crore, which escalated to  Rs 30,000 crore.

Then  came a plan by Captain DJ Dastur, a retired pilot, known as Mala Canal  Project. It proposed storage of water of perennial rivers flowing from  the Himalayas and their equitable distribution throughout the country.  Captain Dastur estimated the cost of the project at Rs 24,100 crore. It  was also scrapped.

But  efforts continued to be made. In 1990, a National Water Board was  constituted. Later, the National Water Development Tribunal started work  for proper utilization of river water through internal transfer in  river basins.

But  the very nature of the proposal makes it an issue kosher for the  political parties who exploit it to nurture their constituencies. The  Sutlej-Yamuna link canal and the posturing by states like Punjab and  Haryana is an example. The dispute over Cauvery river water between  Tamil Nadu and Karnataka is well-known.

The planned development of river valleys sought to make judicious use of river water but unregulated development is threatening to choke the rivers. The poet Kalidasa in Raghuvansham says  about the rivers, “These water-filled streams fill the earth with the  power of procreation and energy. It is these streams flowing on the  landmass which act as the blood-pumping arteries in the body.”

Let’s hope good sense and community efforts keep these arteries flowing.