Ganga retreats in Varanasi

[praveen]

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The Ganga river has moved away from the ghats of Varanasi, sending devotees in the holy city into a frenzy.

The river, which is apparently changing its course, has moved about 7-10 feet away from the ghats. At the famous Dasaswamegh Ghat, close to the Kashi Vishwanath temple, the river is flowing nine feet away from the ghat steps while at Rajendra Prasad Ghat, Rajghat and Assi Ghat it is seven, four and five feet away respectively from the ghats' steps.

“The water level in the river has also gone down by about six feet; this is the first time the Ganga has abandoned the ghats.
People now have to go midstream in a boat for a holy dip: this does not augur well for the city and its people.

Even the Ganga aarti has lost its sheen without the river,“ says Pandit Hargovind Tripathi, a religious preacher. According to mythology, Goddess Ganga had promised Lord Shiva she would never leave the ghats of Kashi; hence the moving away of the river has created panic in the city.

Kirtans and special pujas are being held in various temples to bring the Ganga back to the ghats, and people are observing fasts as penance. The holy rive Ganges is slowly moving away from the ghats of Varanasi by 7-10 feet.

“We are responsible for polluting the Ganga and forcing the river to move away. The local administration has not worked to clean the river, and more and more pollutants are being pushed into the river. If this is not checked, the day is not far when the Ganga will restrict herself to her abode in the Himalayas and we will die of thirst,” says Acharya Jitendra of the Ganga Mahasabha.

Scientists associated with the Ganga Action Plan, on the other hand, also agree the river is changing course due to massive pollution and lack of proper cleaning.

“The dams and barrages built upstream are diverting increasing amounts of water for farming and other purposes, and around nine per cent of the Ganga’s waters are diverted to canals at the Bhimgouda barrage alone,” says a scientist.
A government report says it has spent `36,448 crore to clean the Ganga, yet at Varanasi it has become a deadly cocktail of groundwater, sewage discharge and spillage from tributaries like the Yamuna and the Betwa.


as published in DC Chennai

 

[renuka]

Wow this is some news..just hope people learn from this to be environment friendly and don't take things for granted.
I have noticed that mainly its us Hindus that really pollute holy places in the quest for God.
Like here in Malaysia during Thaipusam Batu Caves will be a mess with strewn about rubbish from agarbathi,camphor boxes etc.
We should just become more environmental conscious and respect Bhooma Devi first before embarking on any spiritual quest.

This really has to be drilled into our brains by hook or by crook.

You know one more point I want to highlight is that we Hindus should stop printing images of Divinities on every thing we can get our hands on.
Like for example agarbathi boxes,camphor boxes etc cos it invariably lands on the road or trash bin once the content is used.

Same with wedding cards.. all beautiful Ganesh drawings and it lands in the bin.
If we are supposed to see Divinity in everything why do we just honour the pic in the prayer room and throw the other divinity away?

I have a friend here a medical doc also cos also who picks up from the road and even from trash bins when he sees any discarded pics like this and washes them and uses them as bookmarks cos he said you will only see pics of Hindu divinities in the trash and not any other religions divinities.

 

[subbudu1]

Ganga is a true symbol of hindu character.

For ages hindus have been great frauds. We say onething and do another.

We say worship women , she is divine and then torture and suppress her. We want our women to be confined to our culture yet kill them in the womb.

We say brahman is everywhere but we have isolated our low caste brothers in the name of caste.

We want to follow Varna but not Dharma

We say India is the most moral country yet we have no hesitation in being corrupt.

The list goes on...

It is sad what is happening to Ganga. It seems some puranas predicted that Ganga will dry up. I dont know. But to me , it is a clear representation of our current state of immorality and all of us are responsible.

I am proud to be a Hindu but I need to ask whether this is really the kind of Hindu I want to be. Nations in the west dont worship their rivers but they have kept them alive. Who is more moral us or them?

 

[kunjuppu]

subbudu,

i have bathed in ganga. it was the most polluted river. just a little above the ghats, i could see raw sewage pipes full of the stinking stuff going into the river.

out of sheer faith and prayers, i dipped in with my head, and held tight my nose.

this bad stuff that is happening to ganga, has nothing to do with hinduism. it is man made hell. man can make it heaven too. if there is a will.

same thing is happening to jamuna too.

i do not know if we need to look at the scriptures for this state. maybe some journals on greening of rivers will help?

 

[subbudu1]

subbudu,

i have bathed in ganga. it was the most polluted river. just a little above the ghats, i could see raw sewage pipes full of the stinking stuff going into the river.

out of sheer faith and prayers, i dipped in with my head, and held tight my nose.

this bad stuff that is happening to ganga, has nothing to do with hinduism. it is man made hell. man can make it heaven too. if there is a will.

same thing is happening to jamuna too.

i do not know if we need to look at the scriptures for this state. maybe some journals on greening of rivers will help?

I agree with you but I feel and my heart bleeds for this river. But is this not a reflection of the character of this nation called India. It is the same thing everywhere. Visit any temple in tamilnadu or in the north. May be a few exceptions. We have somehow developed a mindset as a common hindu, as a common Indian that anything goes as long as we dont see it affecting us. My outpouring was a reflection of our hypocrisy.

Ganga is the most worshipped river, yet the most polluted river. Is this not a Irony Kunjuppu? I am not a hindu hater (infact I love to be a hindu) but it is the anger against the hindu in us which makes us do the exact opposite of what we believe in. I am not considering myself an outsider

 

[kunjuppu]

.. I am not a hindu hater (infact I love to be a hindu) but it is the anger against the hindu in us which makes us do the exact opposite of what we believe in. I am not considering myself an outsider

புரியவில்லையே !!

 

[subbudu1]

புரியவில்லையே !!

Dear Kunjuppu,

My only anger is with the general apathy of the present day hindus. I am not sure if I am coming across clearly or not but most of us do not do what we believe in. I hope it is clear now.

 

[B.Krishnamurthy]

I had visited one city(presume it was KANPUR)in the year 1968 or so on official tour.We went to the Ganges and found the river was flowing
far away from the banks.The local man who accompanied us informed that the river Ganges often changes its course.Still Indians have to learn
how to keep the environment neat and clean.
Yesterday,being a holiday here(Memorial Day),I went with my son to 'Elizabeth Lake, Fremont,CA where lot of families come,cook,eat,enjoy,spend
the whole day.Here they use colourful crackers during Independence Day in JULY.
Once Indians were permitted to use crackers during Diwali here.It appears the entire area was littered with burnt crackers and people just left
the area.Permission was withdrawn thereafter.It is really sad that we carry our Bad Habits to all places outside our country also.
Though thousands were there yesterday,the entire area was neat and clean.Americans want to leave all good things for the future generations.
We,Indians have to learn a lot from Americans.
Young Children while in Schools should be involved compulsorily in keeping the environment neat and clean.
Unfortunately,we Hindus give too much importance to 'Madi' and 'Acharam' but not worried about the surrounding environment.

 

[subbudu1]

I had visited one city(presume it was KANPUR)in the year 1968 or so on official tour.We went to the Ganges and found the river was flowing
far away from the banks.The local man who accompanied us informed that the river Ganges often changes its course.Still Indians have to learn
how to keep the environment neat and clean.
Yesterday,being a holiday here(Memorial Day),I went with my son to 'Elizabeth Lake, Fremont,CA where lot of families come,cook,eat,enjoy,spend
the whole day.Here they use colourful crackers during Independence Day in JULY.
Once Indians were permitted to use crackers during Diwali here.It appears the entire area was littered with burnt crackers and people just left
the area.Permission was withdrawn thereafter.It is really sad that we carry our Bad Habits to all places outside our country also.
Though thousands were there yesterday,the entire area was neat and clean.Americans want to leave all good things for the future generations.
We,Indians have to learn a lot from Americans.
Young Children while in Schools should be involved compulsorily in keeping the environment neat and clean.
Unfortunately,we Hindus give too much importance to 'Madi' and 'Acharam' but not worried about the surrounding environment.

I fully agree with your view.

 

[kunjuppu]

$1 billion to clean up ganga

World Bank approves one Billion to clean Ganga - General news

india is getting a lot of money to clean up the ganga. hope it is spent wisely.

 

[Yamaka]

World Bank approves one Billion to clean Ganga - General news

india is getting a lot of money to clean up the ganga. hope it is spent wisely.

Dear K:

I have read about Polluted and Abused Ganges for decades!

I don't think the Govt should get loans from outside to do the clean up work! Govt just can't do such clean up job well, money will be swindled and wasted as in any other big projects...

What happened to some powerful NGOs ?... Why can't private citizens (Hindus & well wishers) organize a Clean Ganga Fund and implement a Plan on a war footing?

Neither the State Govt (UP) nor Union Govt is qualified to do Mega Projects like this clean up, IMO.. Private Initiative only can do the Job, if they are serious about it...

What say you?

 

[kunjuppu]

Y,

if we cared we would band up together to do a collective effort.

if we had cared in the first place, we would not have abused ganga in the first place.

long before i had seen it in person, i had read about the majesty of the ganga, as viewed by jawaharlal nehru, in his, 'Discovery of India' -

... The Ganges, above all is the river of India, which has held India's heart captive and drawn uncounted millions to her banks since the dawn of history. The story of the Ganges, from her source to the sea, from old times to new, is the story of India's civilization and culture, of the rise and fall of empires, of great and proud cities, of adventures of man…..

nehru was not religious, but he had a deep felt almost religious like affection for the river. in his own inimitable english he has elaborated thus:

Jawaharlal Nehru, a biography - Google Books

prior to taking my ceremonial dip, i could see the majesty of the river. it was summer and low season, but the water was fast flowing. in the distance, a huge fish, with green scales jumped a couple of feet up in the air. i sat fascinated, till reality of the burning corpses and the dirty polluted water, brought me down to earth.

amen!

 

[subbudu1]

A few decades earlier I had been to some of the Project sites near Ganga. Industrial waste was being dumped into Ganga despite Government regulation. Money matters with the Government helped. Incidentally a brahmin was CM of UP at that time. Yet the Government turned a blind eye towards Ganga. I am not sure about the situation now , as I have never been to UP again. But this is my concern area. No matter how much we clean, if Government allows corruption things will continue to deteriorate.
Based on my experience the following I feel is necessary to protect Ganga. Some of it may already be there, I dont know.

-Identify key sites along the river channel which must be kept green. This is needed to ensure adequate rainfall and reduce soil erosion
- Identify different causes for pollution of Ganga and plug them
- Start a study on the effect of dams on the ecology of Ganga and work with Bangladesh to ensure they dont suffer. Remember Cauvery. Let us not behave as a big brother
- Constitute an independant legal body which will be responsible for framing laws and ensuring their implementation
- Constitute a permanant scientific body that will conduct research on all factors and propose binding recommendation that affect the future of Ganga namely environment, power generation, human habitation, agriculture etc. The work should be ongoing and not one-time because lot of issues will not be tackled in one day but take years.

Finally us as people should not throw dumps like detergents, plastic etc into Ganga and for that matter any other river.

 

[sarma-61]

The divine river ganga came down to earth so that the atmas of the 60,000 sons of king Sagara could be liberated by their ashes being purified by Ganga water. If one reads the whole story, we find jealousy, anger, curse, tapas etc., added as per taste to this central theme. Hence no wonder that people have considered Ganga to be the ideal place to dispose of dead bodies, and the river has become most polluted.

IMHO, unless the religious significance of our great rivers ["gange ca yamunecaiva godaavaree sarasvatee (escaped pollution by drying up!), narmade sindhu kaaveree jale/smin sannidhim kuru"] is stopped and the environmental hazards are taught in the schools from primary classes, no hope can be entertained.