archive: A modern saptarishi and a river's thousand names
A modern saptarishi and a river's thousand names
Suphal Kumar in Varanasi
Rediff on Net
July 20, 1999
Title: A modern saptarishi and a river's thousand names
Author: Suphal Kumar in Varanasi
Publication: Rediff on Net
Date: July 20, 1999
The Ganga has one thousand names ( sahastranam) all meaning purity and
cleanliness but unlike the past it enters the third millennium with
only one name -- pollution.
Daily, at the crack of dawn, one man takes a dip in the river reciting
Ganga sahastranam knowing fully well that the polluted water could be
injurious to health. It only strengthens his resolve to work for
making the river pollution free. He is Professor Veer Bhadra Misra,
who has been tirelessly fighting to restore Ganga to its pristine
purity.
He has been recently selected by the international news magazine Time
as one of the ''Seven Heroes of Planet.''
He says ''I owe it all to mother Ganga.'' Prof Misra, who comes from
the priestly class and is the mahant of the famous Sankatmochan temple
in Varanasi, is a scientist by temper. He is a civil engineering
professor at the Banaras Hindu University.
He has been named as one of the modern saptarishi (seven adepts) for
his efforts to save the planet from environmental degradation.
It is perhaps for the first time that an international media
organisation has prepared a list of top environmental activists on a
global basis. ''In honouring me, they reminded the world community
that cleaning of the Ganga should be a global concern. Ganga will
inspire us to preserve all the fresh water bodies the world over'',
Prof Misra said.
He had started his campaign to check the growing pollution in the
river nearly two decades ago, much before environmental concerns
became 'fashionable' among the elite. His efforts finally attracted
the attention of the central government to Ganga's plight. The then
prime minister Rajiv Gandhi
launched the ambitious Ganga Action Plan in 1986.
Sitting in the living room of his house just a few yards from the
river, Prof Mishra is busy attending telephone calls congratulating
him for the award.
His only regret is that the first phase of the Ganga Action Plan has
not achieved significant success. ''The only consolation is that the
pollution has not increased from pre-plan levels,'' he says.
The professor had received the ''Global-500 roll of honour''
instituted by the United Nations Environment Agency at the Earth
Summit at Rio de Janerio in 1992. He is also a member of an expert
committee constituted by the central government to evaluate the work
and progress of the Ganga Action Plan and for suggesting measures for
improvement.
Prof Misra says that the pollution problem of the Ganga is vastly
different from that of the rivers of developed countries where
chemical pollution is the major challenge. Fortunately, pollution in
the Ganga is mainly biological.
''If the developed countries can overcome the problem of chemical
pollution in their rivers, we, in India, can certainly check
biological pollution which is largely caused by municipal sewage and
other human activities,'' he adds.
Prof Misra says much depends on the success of the Ganga Action Plan.
''If we succeed in making the Ganga pollution free, then this
experience can be extended to the other rivers too.''
''We should fix a modest and feasible goal. As the anti-pollution
measures require huge resources, we should not think of making the
river pollution free in all its thousands of miles course. We should
concentrate our efforts on special stretches where people gather in
large numbers for bathing and other cultural or religious
activities,'' he added.
He named six such stretches along the river-500 metre upstream and
Downstream: Gangotri, Lakshman Jhula (Rishikesh) to Kankhal (Hardwar),
Shukratal to Garhmukteshwar, Brahmavarta to Siddhanath (Kanpur),
Shivkuti to Ranhaiyaghat (Allahabad) and Ramnagar to Adikeshavghat
(Varanasi).
''These stretches, if polluted, would affect the health of a much
larger number of people who gather there. Since these places are
closely linked to the traditional beliefs of our countrymen, they
should be preserved as symbols of sentiment and models for
deification'', he adds.
The expert committee had expressed the view that technology adopted in
the first phase of the Ganga Action Plan was not an ideal one. ''Over
reliance on pumping of sewage should have been avoided and technical
preference should be given to carriage of sewage by the force of
gravity to the maximum extent possible,'' it had suggested.
Prof Misra feels that the oxidation technology pond with suitable
retention time is capable of reducing various types of pollution.
UNI
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