For highest good, pay court to Ganga

Sandeep Rawat

Tribune News Service

Haridwar, October 25

“Ganga always extends her unto those that are devoted to her with humbleness of heart. She unites those that are so devoted to her with every kind of happiness.”–Mahabharata, Anusasana Parva, Chapter 27, Verse 100

The wondrous Ganga is a benediction, a divine kindliness manifesting herself in beauty, in peace and in purity she confers. The Ganga is integral to the Indian culture, civilisation and religious philosophy. In Mahabharata, the great sage Ved Vyasa narrates by way of a discussion between a Rishi and a Brahmana that a person afflicted by calamities and about to sink under their weight, finds all his calamities dispelled by the joy, which springs up in his heart at the sight of the sacred stream.

The high happiness, which one enjoys by a residence on the banks of the Ganga, can never be his who is residing even in heaven. As children afflicted with hunger solicit their mothers for food, after the same manner do people desirous of their highest good pay court to the Ganga. That man becomes dear to Ganga who adores her with deep devotion, with mind wholly fixed upon her, with a reverence that refuses to take any other object within its sphere, with a feeling that there is nothing else to the universe worthy of similar adoration, and with a steadiness that knows no failing away.

While the sacred Ganga originates from the glacial region of Gaumukh in Gangotri, the river gets its name only at Dev Prayag, which is a small hill town on the border of Pauri Garhwal and Tehri Garhwal districts, at the confluence of its head tributaries Bhagirathi and Alaknanda.

The Alaknanda, which is the major tributary of the Ganga, originates from the Alkapuri glacier, hence its name Alaknanda. From Chamoli district, it enters Pauri Garhwal district, being a partisan for Pauri Garhwal, Chamoli and Tehri Garhwal districts. The Alaknanda traverses 190 km from the Himalayan glacier before it meets the Bhagirathi at Dev Prayag. The main tributaries of the Alaknanda are the Mandakini, the Nandakini and the Pindar.

The pollution level in the Ganga is more in the plains, Haridwar onward till Ganga Sagar in West Bengal. However, in recent years, the pollution level in the Bhagirathi and the Alaknanda has increased due to rapid urbanization, tourist influx, mushrooming of hotels, eateries, ashrams, dharamshalas, and guesthouses and rise in population along their banks.

The Ganga is uniquely different from other bodies of water. With her powerful and unique scientific implications, we can see that there is still much to learn about the Ganga. It is a tragedy that today Ganga’s distinctive nature is quickly deteriorating. In many stretches along her shores, the pollutant load is so high that any interaction with the contaminated water causes skin and waterborne diseases. Thus, new and innovative research has an important role to play in the restoration, protection and maintenance of the uniqueness of the Ganga.

The efforts made under the Ganga Action Plan have proved useless though thousands of crores of rupees have been spent in the past several decades. This leaves us with no choice but to work together to salvage the holy river if we want her to continue to bless and liberate mortal souls and remain the enduring identity of India.

“The sacred river Ganges in India is one of the most enduring images of the country”—Daniel Lak