An astonishing paradox, that of the relationship of Hindus with their holy rivers. No matter how venerated, they are also godforsakenly polluted! The Ganga is no exception to the rule. Although flowing in the cradle region of the Hindu religion, so many myths of which it has inspired, its pollution there is as dramatic, or even more dramatic than elsewhere. “People come from all of India for their ablutions, to bathe, to deposit offerings, or to die on the left bank of the Ganga to achieve the Svarga, the paradise of Indra, the god of storm, but no one imagines for a second that this river, symbol of purification, can also be polluted!” explains Rakesh, founder and president of the organization Ecofriends.
The aim of this nongovernmental organization set up in 1993 is to raise the awareness of the residents of the Ganga to the environmental problems and the impacts of the pollution of the Ganga on their health. Knowing that 400 million Indians live more or less directly off the Ganga for drinking, eating, and washing purposes in the largest and most populated river basin in the world, Ecofriends’ task is at the very least an arduous one! “The problems of the Ganga are as long as it is (2,500 kilometers), which is why we chose to concentrate on the most polluted area, Kanpur,” continues Rakesh. Once considered as the Manchester of India, Kanpur is today "a garbage dump city," according to the five Ecofriends employees. In some places, Kanpur is in an open sewer, where the water of the Ganga carries traces of toxic products, among others chromium, nickel, and arsenic from the leather and chemical industries located on the banks of the river. Other source of pollution, the human and animal corpses thrown into the Ganga half consumed because wood is expensive. Despite the very high level of pollution of the river Ganga, it continues to attract polluting industries.
Insensitive Public Authorities
In spite of a beginning action on the part of the authorities, it became quickly obvious that there is practically no determination on their side. “The situation has tended to improve in the past three years and the quality of the water of Kanpur is better than in Bombay or in Delhi since we set up new wastewater treatment plants”, boasts the mayor of Kanpur, Mr. Anil Sharma. Yet, on the field, no traces of change are observed. Evidence of this is the city’s water-supply sources still placed close to five sewage pipes or the increasing number of people affected with hydric and respiratory diseases in Kanpur. “The only way to stop the Ganga from dying and affecting its residents is to mobilize as many people as possible to put pressure on the industries and the administration,” confides the president of Ecofriends. In order to shake up the latter and to force them to some concern for the river’s ecology, which is deteriorating by the day, Ecofriends multiplies interventions, non-violent demonstrations, and petitions in the schools, the media, and the communities for whom the Ganga is the livelihood (fishers, farmers, launderers, etc. ). No matter how difficult the task, Rakesh remains optimistic: “ I read that the Rhine was once extremely polluted. Many efforts to make it healthier have been crowned with success. If that works for you, why not for us? “
MORE ON THIS ISSUE
Links:
The Ecofriends Web site
(Contact Rakesh K. Jaiswal)
World Water Alliance
Eautourdumonde, campaign to raise awareness on water (in French only)
Further reading:
A Global Action Program Covering a Catchment Area to Restore the Quality of Water of the Rade de Brest
Nathalie HOLEC (4D)
- 27 February 1998
The Brest Urban Community has implemented a coherent global approach, calling on the players involved, to protect the water of the Rade de Brest and set up long-term, multi-partner management of the catchment area.
New Challenges for the Nile
Cécile LACHERET (IRFED)
- 17 September 1995
Management of the Nile is facing serious problems concerning the quality of the water, how it is shared and management of the river. To meet these challenges, the countries through which it flows must overcome their differences in order to implement an integrated management plan.
Proposals Related to the Water Issue
Larbi Bouguerra (Chantier Gestion durable de l'eau)
- 01 May 1998
If there is one field in which governance is necessary, even vital, it is that of water supply, for it is indeed in this field "that a far-reaching change in the management of our planet and the life therein is necessary." Why? Because water is Life and because, on this planet, water commands and regulates all fundamental phenomena and all essential interactions.
Seven Recommendations for Good Water Management
Larbi Bouguerra (FPH)
- 01 September 2001
This document presents seven recommendations for good water management and includes several examples and testimonies dealing with water and caused by human beings.
The Paraguay-Paraná Development Program, the Future of a Region in the Balance
Jean-Christophe CARRAU (IRFED)
- 08 October 1995
The Paraguay-Paraná development programs, designed exclusively to attract international finance, ignores the project's environmental and social impacts and even neglects any serious evaluation of its real profitability. The mobilization of public opinion could force the governments involved to modify the project to incorporate sustainable regional development.
Toward a Framework Convention on the Use of Waterways for Purposes Other Than Navigation
Cécile LACHERET (IRFED)
- 19 September 1995
The drafting of a convention on the use of transnational waterways has begun under the aegis of the United Nations. The interest of this convention is that it deals simultaneously with the equitable use of these waterways - each State having to take into account the interests of its neighbors - and cooperation to preserve the ecosystems involved. Nonetheless, questions need to be raised as to the capacity of states to go beyond their traditional relations in order to meet the challenges.
Water Pollution and Health Hazards: Notes
Larbi BOUGUERRA (Chantier Eau de l'Alliance pour un monde responsable et solidaire)
- 02 July 1998
This series of texts and studies reveals how the situation of water resources remains a major concern everywhere in the world, in spite of legislation and efforts of depollution which are often relegated into the background compared to other political and economic interests.
Water under the Combined Threat of Pollution and the Market
Larbi Bouguerra (Chantier Gestion durable de l'eau)
- 20 May 2004
To assure the necessities of water, you can increase the quantity of available water and learn how to use it in a less selfish way, without the purpose of benefit. In the beginning of the twenty-first century we need to promote a new society, a "water-saving society"
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