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archive: A heroic but losing battle to save Ganga

A heroic but losing battle to save Ganga

Mohit Dubey
The Sunday Times of India
July 25, 1999


    Title: A heroic but losing battle to save Ganga
    Author: Mohit Dubey
    Publication: The Sunday Times of India 
    Date: July 25, 1999 
    
    Veer Bhadra Mishra has not yet seen the edition of American magazine
    TIME which names him 'one of the seven heroes of the planet' for his
    efforts to save the Ganga from pollution.  But the recognition has not
    altered either the man or his routine.
    
    For this sixty- year-old head of the department of civil engineering
    at the Banaras Hindu University (BHU), known simply as 'Mahantji', it
    is life as usual.  His life still revolves around his job as a
    professor, that of a priest at the most visited temple in the town,
    the Sankatmochan temple and of a technical expert at the 'Swachha
    Ganga Laboratory' at Tulsi ghat.
    
    Word however has gone round that he has received a prestigious award
    conferred by a newspaper!  And as people flock to his house with
    bouquets, garlands, sweets and some even touch his feet with money,
    one of them asked tentatively why The Times of India had chosen him
    for the award!  Mr Mishra laughs and points to this correspondent for
    an explanation.
    
    He launched the 'Swachha Ganga Abhiyaan' in 1982 when he was 42 years
    old.  Even now that he is 60, he makes it a point to walk down the
    steps every morning, rain or shine, and take a dip in the river which
    continues to stink and which is, ironically, dirtier than ever.  The
    overpowering stench and the sight of bare bottoms and human excreta
    flowing in the water prompt most visitors to turn away with disgust
    and embarrassment.  But the stoical Mahantji takes everything in his
    stride, adding philosophically that while his faith drives him to go
    through the ritual, the dip also serves as a reminder of the task
    ahead.
    
    Hailed as the spiritual heir of Goswami Tulsidas, the writer of the
    epic Ramayana, Mishra and his comrades, have faced unkept promises,
    bureaucratic hassles and political indifference.  "Initially people
    would just laugh, sneer at me or at most give me sympathetic looks ...
    Ganga for them was - unpollutable", he recalled.  Starting with street
    plays, puppet shows, musical evenings by legendary figures like Pt
    Jasraj and dance performed by Sonal Man Singh, he finally struck a
    chord with local residents after an article penned by him was
    published in Dinmaan, a highly respected periodical in Hindi.
    
    He of course became a much sought after figure when Rajiv Gandhi in
    1983 declared Ganga as 'a national heritage' and the Central Ganga
    Authority (CGA) was set up.  Many enthusiastic youngsters, science
    students and colleagues joined the movement.  But, with the Ganga
    Action Plan (GAP) set rolling, the Swachha Ganga Abhiyaan volunteers
    decided to lie low, wait and watch.  It was only after the sledge
    pumps, sewage treatment plants and the Anaerobic Sledge Blankets
    (UASB) went up but failed to work, that they resurfaced.
    
    What irked them no end was the declaration by the Union government in
    1993 that Ganga was "finally cleaned" and that GAP Phase I had been
    "successfully accomplished".  By now Mr Mishra had been conferred the
    'Global 500 Roll of Honour' award by UNEP in 1992 at Rio and help had
    started coming.  And then came like- minded people who formed a group
    aptly christened later as 'Friends of the Ganges'.  Many
    environmentalists from around the globe joined him and some help from
    certain NGO's helped him set up a sophisticated state-of-the-art
    laboratory.
    
    Predictably, he is not very popular among government officials and his
    organisation is seldom invited to play a role in GAP.  Undaunted, he
    continues with his solitary and seemingly losing but nevertheless
    heroic battle against pollution.
    



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