A SACRED RIVER AND INDIA’S DISGRACE – WILL NEW RULES CLEAN UP THE GANGES?
Green tribunal says no more construction and no more waste-tipping, but Indians have heard it all before
It is India’s mightiest river and a national eyesore, but the country is determined to clean up the polluted Ganges river in every sense.
India’s top environmental tribunal has issued strict regulations to clean up the polluted river and revive a project that prime minister Narendra Modi made a central plank of his election campaign, but has done nothing about since.
On Thursday, the National Green Tribunal ruled that no waste could be dumped within 500 metres of the river’s edge, and that any littering would be punished with a fine of 50,000 rupees (Dh2,850). There will also be no construction work allowed within 100 metres of the river.
The state of Uttar Pradesh, through which the Ganges flows, has been ordered to move 456 tanneries, which release effluent into the water, within six weeks. If not relocated they will be closed down.
The orders were issued by a six-member bench of the tribunal, led by a former supreme court justice, in a 543-page judgment.
It noted that despite successive governments spending US$1.13 billion (Dh4.15bn) over the years on cleaning up pollution in the river, there had been no improvement.
“On the contrary, there has been tremendous increase in the pollution levels adversely affecting the water quality of the river Ganga and its tributaries,” the tribunal said.
The Ganges flows across the plains of north India and is considered the most sacred river in Hinduism. Pilgrims immerse themselves in its waters to wash away their sins, and the ashes of the dead are consigned to its depths.
It is also the primary source of water for nearly 400 million people. But the 2,500-kilometre river has also become deeply polluted by industrial waste and untreated sewage.
Nearly 120 cities and towns on the river’s banks dump about 4.8 billion litres of sewage into the river every day, three quarters of it untreated. Another 500 million litres of industrial effluent gush into the Ganges daily from 760 industrial plants.
The pollution has turned the river a sickly grey – and even red in some stretches. Scientific studies have recorded sharp increases in skin diseases among people living along its banks.
During his 2014 campaign, Mr Modi promised to revive the river and after winning office, he instituted the National Mission for Clean Ganga – a body to supervise nearly $3bn in funding for 2015 to 2020.
But in February, the tribunal found that only $205 million of the money had been spent, and “not a single drop of the Ganga has been cleaned so far”.
The river’s decline has also affected how people regard its sacred purity.
In Varanasi, Hinduism’s holiest city, a priest named V Krishnamurti helps pilgrims to conduct rituals. He is a fifth-generation priest and his profession depends, in a sense, on the sanctity of the Ganges.
But his faithful have increasingly begun to look askance at the river and ask him if there is a cleaner spot further upstream for them to perform their ritual immersions.
“Even a few years ago, I noticed that Varanasi’s families no longer use the water to clean or to cook, let alone to drink,” Mr Krishnamurti said. “It’s so sad, because the Ganga’s water is supposed to cleanse us and instead we’re uncertain of its own cleanliness.”
The tribunal’s ruling, however, is only the latest in a long line of judicial decrees that have gone unheeded or unimplemented, said Rakesh Jaiswal, a seasoned clean-up campaigner and the founder of EcoFriends.
Earlier, the Allahabad High Court declared the area 200 metres from the river’s edge would be a no-development zone.
“But it was never complied with. Not a single person has been penalised for polluting the river, despite court orders,” Mr Jaiswal said.
“Some of the tribunal’s directives are difficult to carry out in the time specified. Shifting of these tanneries within six weeks seems impractical.”
Mr Jaiswa attributes the river’s decline to apathy and bureaucratic corruption, which render regulations toothless.
“There is a lack of dedication and honesty at every level,” he said. “Let the tribunal’s orders be implemented. There is very little hope.”
Not a single person has been penalised for polluting the river, despite court orders. There is a lack of dedication and honesty at every level. Let the tribunal’s orders be implemented. There is very little hope