Theme based public and expert
opinions
The enunciation and progress of
Namami Gange
Programme
Global research and experiences show that the health of a country’s
river reflects the economic status of the enormous population that lives
in the basin. The high prevalence of poverty and lack of economic
prospects for Ganga’s population, particularly farmers, is one of the
major techno-social variables responsible for the river’s current
status. The Ganga’s issue did not go overlooked by the PM Modi and he in
his campaign in Varanasi in 2014, pledged to clean up the Ganga with his
words “mujhe toh Maa Ganga ne bulaya hai” . He immediately started the
NGP project after taking office, an integrated conservation effort with
a budget of 20,000 crores to achieve the goals of effective pollution
abatement, conservation, and regeneration of the Ganga. By 2022, the
project hopes to have fully connected all 1,632 Gram Panchayats along
the Ganga to a sanitation system. Moving forward in his 2019, in 73rd
Independence Day speech, he emphasized the need of water conservation,
saying that the center and states must collaborate to save water and
supply it to every family. He stated that the government has set aside
Rs 3.5 lakh crore for the project and that work on the Jal Jeevan
Mission will be carried out with vigor in the coming years .
The competing roles of the river – power generation, irrigation,
domestic water supply, fisheries, riverbed agriculture, result in a
variety of services, which if sustainably managed, can contribute to
sustainable economic development of the country. In this direction the
PM again directed the NMCG to lead the development of an ’Arth Ganga’
economic framework model for the Ganga Basin, integrating people’s
participation and financial development with Ganga rejuvenation, with a
target of a 3% contribution to GDP from all concerted efforts made in
this direction .
In between these two events, there was lot of criticism projected
towards the NGP which caught the attention of then Minister of Water
Resources, Nitin Gadkari, who expressed his deep displeasure over the
‘slow progress’ of projects and directed his officials to do quality
work in a transparent, corruption free, and time-bound manner. He
explained that they need to work on changing the general public
perception that nothing is being done, and suggested solutions towards
issues like loopholes and the delay in the process of DPRs preparations,
finalization of tenders, and payments to contractors . Nitin Gadkari
push seemed to work and helped in fast tracking of a lot of lingering
projects which were eventually finalized after facing a lot of
condemnation from the people across multiple sectors both in and out of
political prism. In the same year, PM Modi met with the governments of
Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh after regaining power in both states’
legislative assemblies’ elections. Upon examining the status of work
completed, he directed authorities to ensure public participation so
that the NGP does not remain only a government initiative, as well as
proper distribution of project-related information. . At this point, the
BJP had friendly administrations in four of the five states along the
major Ganga stem. However, there was a lot of political uproar after The
Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India issued a performance
audit report to assess the availability and utilization of funds,
planning and implementation of various schemes/projects, adequacy of
human resources, and effectiveness of monitoring and evaluation
mechanisms. The performance audit revealed underutilization of funds as
around Rs. 2,500 crores were found unspent in the banks, and delays in
the project approvals between 2014-15 and 2016-17 , besides several
other shortcomings as apparent from a detailed report summary .
Union Home Minister, Sh. Amit Shah, during ‘Ganga Aamantran Abhiyan,’
ceremony, still stated that ‘Namami Gange’ improved water quality of
Ganga” and that the project to clean Ganga, had been a success as
government is planning to launch similar initiatives to clean other
rivers in the country in coordination with people. He referred to the
successful organization of Kumbh Mela (2019), and said that the people
attending the ceremony were testimony to the NGP success . Further, Sh.
Amitabh Kant, CEO of NITI Aayog also heaped praises on the government
and said that ‘With Its Multi-Sectoral Approach, Namami Gange Has Been
Successful in Making Positive Impact’ while talking at 5th India Water
Impact Summit 2020. He also expressed that data and numbers are not
sufficient, and only the passion can make the administration work a
success. Taking inspiration from the Prime Minister’s “vocal for
local” campaign, he suggested that local water bodies should be managed
by local people and should cater to local needs which will also generate
local employment and reduce the cost of transporting water .
Livelihood Generation
Opportunities
According to Indian literature, Ganga is everlasting and has thousands
of years of history, with at least hundreds of years of documented
writings about her. She not only provides ecological (biodiversity) and
social values, but also economically sustains the people of India
(livelihood). However, the non-judicial and irrational behavior of
economic agents has jeopardized her resources.
A recent case study on the Ganga resources and the flow (ferry and
tourist) and non-flow (riverbed farming) associated livelihood options
drawed our attention to the current situation. According to the report,
the tragedy of the commons, state-provided subsidies, and myopic conduct
within the community have reduced the sustainability of river resources,
which will have a negative impact on the biological, physical, human,
and management systems across the rivers. The article says that a
comprehensive research of environmental assets is required to develop
information on the socioeconomic advantages of river resources, and that
an effective knowledge-based allocation of resources is urgently needed
.
Uma Bharti, Former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister and Ex-Union Water
Resources Minister, during an event on ‘Swach Ganga Abhiyan’,
reciprocated the reports of experts and said that maintaining the
Ganga’s uninterrupted flow is critical as approximately 50 crore people
rely on the Ganga for their livelihood and half of them would lose their
resources if it dried up .
Shekhar shah, DG, NCAER, while presenting the join report of NCAER (New
Delhi) and TCD (Chicago) stressed that there is an urgent need to
regulate traditional river fishing methods by providing proper licensing
services especially in Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal where the Ganga is
used by fisher folk for drinking, fishing, and bathing. The report urges
that the fisher communities should be recognized as part of the river
ecology, and that their indigenous knowledge be synchronized with
scientific findings in order to improve water monitoring and control
strategies. Moreover, these communities should also be included in river
development and alternative skilling programmes in order to expand their
economic options, says the report .
Union Water Resources Minister, Sh. Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, also
reputed the Ganga as foundation of India’s economic activity, and at
‘Ganga Utsav’ event (2021) said that the ‘NMCG has succeeded in bringing
Ganga closer to the people and turning it into a Jan Andolan. Hundreds
of thousands of people are helping to clean the Ganga. Previously, work
on cleaning the Ganga was done in silos, and efforts were not conducted
with the same zeal as they should have been’.
DG, NMCG, Mr. G. Ashok Kumar in a conversation with a TheStatesman
reporter, highlighted his vision of ‘Arth Ganga’ and discussed how
economic activities around Ganga may be developed to make the “Clean
Ganga” mission long-term self-sustaining. For this objective, he said,
NMCG has established the concept of ‘Earth Ganga,’ which aims to develop
socio-economic activities along the river’s banks in order to generate
jobs. The first stage is to promote zero-based natural farming in the
river basin area by reducing chemical use in agriculture. He made the
argument that freshwater fisheries would bring income to those who live
along river banks, and that they would care for the river since it would
supply them with revenue. To assure a higher price for fish, we are
considering establishing cold storage facilities in specific locations.
Furthermore, he also said we focused on the promotion of tourism by
developing ghats and beautifying them .
Agriculture, afforestation and water
conservation
The Ganga basin accounts for around 29.5% of India’s total cultivable
area. Irrigation covers about 68% (20.2 million hectares) of the
basin’s net planted area (29.57 million ha), an increase of 43% from
1962-65 to 2003-06 . Water is the primary motive as well as the prime
limitation for agriculture. Rainwater harvesting, less water-intensive
crops, climate-smart agricultural methods, water-saving farming
techniques, and organic farming may all benefit from increased awareness
and information sharing. With significant anthropogenic strain on water
resources, it is critical to focus on water conservation and the
efficient and effective use of water resources. Consequently, organic
agricultural inputs, an effective irrigation system, and the economic
cash crops might be useful. Concerning this, it was decided in an
official NMCG meeting that a corridor of 5 - 7 km along the banks of
Ganga should be developed for organic farming. Further, farmers along
Ganga River should be encouraged to take up sustainable agriculture
practices including Zero Budget Farming, and that there is also need to
minimize water loss from water distribution systems through adoption of
measures such as lined irrigation canals, covered aqueducts, leak-proof
pressure valves in drinking water distribution system .
Who is more eligible than Padma Shri and Padma Bhusan Dr. Anil P Joshi,
who by profession and passion is a revered environmentalist, green
activist, and the founder of Himalayan Environmental Studies and
Conservation Organization, to comment on this topic? His work majorly
includes developing sustainable technologies that are ecology inclusive
economy for ecosystem development. Dr. Joshi says that ‘The genuine
capital of a country is its natural resources’ and presented the
concepts of GEP (gross environmental product) while contrasting this
with the GDP (gross domestic product). He argues that GDP is too narrow
a criterion for assessing a country’s total growth because it ignores
the periodic state of soil, water, forest, and air. It should not be the
only metric used to assess national progress, as the environment is
rarely considered in it. He argues, we frequently forget that in
agricultural nations like ours, where agriculture provides a living for
more than 70% of the people, our subsistence pattern differs
significantly from that of Western countries. He recognizes the paradox,
that a nation’s needs economic growth while simultaneously ensuring its
ecological needs; and he advised that a periodic examination of our
ecological assets, such as forest cover, soil, and water bodies, be
conducted for this to work. Gross Environmental Product (GEP), he
believes is a concept that is inclusive of all of these .
Ex-Director, NMCG, Sh. Rajiv Ranjan Mishra also believes that a boost to
organic farming is required, as he presented his case, saying that the
rapid urbanization, removal of top soil (for brick laying, etc.),
increasing population (75 million per year globally), conversion of
prime crop land to urban use (3 million ha.), deforestation of alluvial
regions, and alarming rates of water abstraction for Agri-purposes in
the Ganga basin area have all been causing damage to aquatic flora and
fauna. Mr. Mishra said that the NMCG is working closely with the
Ministry of Agriculture and Farming welfare to promote organic farming
and improve farming techniques in order to alleviate these detrimental
effects. He also recommended micro-irrigation techniques and flood
irrigation instruction as ways to successfully reduce soil erosion in
basin states .
The Chairman of consumer goods giant Patanjali Ayurved, Sh. Acharya
Balkrishna, says ‘We can only rescue Ganga, her holiness, and the flow
if we plant more trees while leaving the present ones alone and avoid
polluting her with dangerous chemicals (insecticides and pesticides)’.
Speaking at a ceremony ‘Clean Ganga - Rural Participation’ (2016),
Acharya Je stated that ‘during older days one could readily see soil
along the banks of the Ganga, but now that is all gone and all that is
left is sand, which is also a matter of illicit mining these days. This
has happened as a result of soil erosion caused by large-scale
deforestation in the recent decades. As a solution, we may limit the use
of pesticides for at least 1-2 kilometers along both sides of the
Ganga’. He further talked of the shared responsibilities and says that
these things must be worked out as a moral duty and as our commitments,
since we are the part of the problem itself .
The banks of the Ganga are home to a diverse array of flower species.
Climate, altitude, and Ganga water all contribute to the variety, which
gives nutrients and conserves water by preventing soil erosion along the
Ganga’s banks. Floral variety abounds from the Ganga’s headwaters to
Rishikesh (Upper Ganga basin). From October to March, the source region
is snow-covered for approximately six months, and during that period,
numerous medicinal plants thrive there, hence the region is also known
as alpine meadows. Below the alpine meadows (2200–2800 m), dense
coniferous woodlands with a diverse range of species grow. The most
prevalent species are deodar, spruce, cedar, and fir. Mixed-oak
woodlands border coniferous forests (1800–2200 m). Pine woods may be
found between 1100 and 1800 meters above sea level. Monsoon deciduous
woods thrive below 1100 m (Shivalik hills) (Sati, 2020). Figure 4
depicts the Ganga Basin regions as per the biodiversity and some
dominant vegetation found in this area.