Dying for the Life of a River: the Ganga, Nigamnanda... and now is it Shivananda’s turn?

Just before the advent of Āṣāḍha [आषाढ] we got an alarm signal from Haridwar. Apprehension ran high: Is a four year old episode going to be re-enacted? Four years back, Swami Nigamananda died on Day-115 of his fast on June 13, 2011. And on June 2015, an uneasy calm was prevailing in Matri Sadan, the ashrama [hermitage] of Nigamanda. The elderly saint Shivanand, Matri Sadan chief, just ended his fast on June 7, after the Uttarakhand Chief Minister assured him that steps would be taken to end illegal mining-quarrying around the Ganga. There was an air of disbelief, as the swami and his fellow seers and environmentalists felt they were being betrayed time and again [Times of India, Dehradun, 28.05.15].    

Nigamananda with Swami Shivananda, a 2011 picture

Swami Nigamananda

What is most unfortunate is that Nigamananda could not attract limelight in our hallowed Indian Media during his prolonged fast. Less than a handful of print media and electronic media paid attention to his struggle when he was still living. Only through his martyrdom he could bring into focus the issue of killing of a river ruthlessly, the ‘sacred’ Ganga.

But does a river worth dying for and that too at an early age of just 34? Is it spiritual ‘fanatism’?

When the river is Ganga, of course presence of a spiritual or religious bent of mind comes in the forefront. We have not forgotten yet the 1969 Beatles piece ‘Across theUniverse’, which was born in a place just a few miles away from the ashrama where Nigamananda stayed. The Ganga is one of the seven holy rivers taking whose name any Hindu puja starts. It is also a revered Goddess who is believed to cleanse people from all their sins once they take holy dip.

Almost simultaneously, if not before, the aesthetic aspect presents itself. Not just the breathtaking mountains, the glaciers where the journey begins, the rapid brooks that run down the forests on hills, but also with the long 2500+ kilometres journey through the soothing plains ending in the largest mangrove delta of the world, the Sunderbans, the Ganga is unique.

Besides, there are worldlier, mundane facets too: like the ecological, social and economic. Onno Ruhl, World Bank India Country Director, in an article published in December 2014, estimated that the Ganga basin is home of around 600 million Indians, and other estimates show that more than 450 million Indians are dependent on this river for municipal drinking water, irrigation and etcetera. Ruhl further said that this basin generates around 40% of country’s GDP. Which means, in PPP (purchasing power parity) terms, $2.96 Trillion (international $), which is more than GDP of Indonesia, France or the UK (all in PPP terms). 450-600 million people, $2.96 Trillion – well, these are astounding figures, and this demographic-economic aspect makes Ganga a very special river in the world. 

Through her 2500+ km journey, the Ganga hears songs, prayers, sobs and stories in perhaps more than 25 languages and dialects. She shelters more than 250 different kinds of fish belonging to more than 100 genera and also the Gangetic Dolphin – a rare species – that actually finds its food by ultrasonic search. Several marine fish species like the exquisite Hilsa swim up the river for their fresh-water breeding every year. By these natural ‘blessings’ she gives livelihood to some 16,000,000 fishermen. And river transport provides jobs to millions more. In sum, she harbours a unique bio and socio diversity which perhaps no other river in the world can match. No amount of compensation can be equivalent to her disfiguring by the ruthless exploiters for their individual profits, be that in the name of ‘development’. 

Even the governments understand the social and economic aspects, even if partially. In a government discussion on Ganga in the Forest Research Institute in Dehradun, water resource minister Uma Bharati commented, “The cleaning and conservation of the Ganga is an economic issue and not just a religious one. The Ganga is more of a lifeline to Indians than a mere holy river.” [July 2, 2015] A massive multi-billion dollar cleansing operation has started. Previously, in the Rajiv Gandhi era in the 1980s, we had the Ganga Action Plan. In the 1990s we had GAP-II. The ‘economic’ value of Ganga was also calculated by WTP analysis (‘Willingness to Pay’) in the 1990s and published in the year 2000 (Cleaning-up the Ganges: A Cost-benefitAnalysis of the Ganga Action Plan, Markandaya and Murty, Oxford University Press), which showed that an average educated Indian was willing to pay some 180-500 Rs for cleaning Ganga, which in 1998-99 currency exchange rate, comes to some $ 4–12 USD.

But what makes many eminent scientists and also the seers sceptical is that environmental load on the river is continuously on the increase, it is unabated, if looked from biological-chemical angle and on the other hand, by ‘developmental’ activities the hydro-geology of the river is threatened. Innumerable dams not only changed the flow but also threatening aquatic species by habitat fragmentation. And this problem was one of the main reasons behind the 2013 flooding disaster. Another such demon is quarrying near and even in the Ganga bed. Near Haridwar and Dehradun there are more than 140 ultramodern stone crushing plants which feed on Gangetic stone quarries. This is doing havoc to river hydrology and groundwater table of all the geography nearby by diverting, sinking and subduing water. This crisis was fought be many seers and scientists including. The peaceful seers met cruel apathy and even violent interference. The NationalGeographic reported these on Dec 9, 2011 (Dan Morrison’s column). But perhaps those seers are least concerned with their own bodily existence and they continue their fight for the Ganga, the lifeline of India.

Nigamananda was in his prime youth, he sacrificed his life in his mid thirties. He might not have been fellow traveller of all of us in terms of life’s journey; but the essence of his cause is ours. We shall remember him and his crusade with due honour.

Gleaming Clothes & Ailing Milieu

If persons aboard knew India or Bengal some 2500 years ago, or 2000 years ago or 1000 or 500 years ago they knew it is a country of affluence, Muslin, silk and cotton clothes and fantastic food, with spices of course. So, if some governments some 2500 years after Buddha decide to make India again the textile hub of the world, then they will do historical justice, no doubt. But the point is – how: in the grand old English way?

In this column obviously we shall not contemplate on the political, diplomatic, military aspects but rather we shall be focusing on the human-nature interaction and its products. After all, all that we produce including the things using which we produce like machines, energy, raw materials etcetera all comes from Nature; and humans, who are products of nature, work on nature, by nature (tools are half nature half human product) to produce things. At a certain point of history of humans, they thought ‘we are at a war, at a struggle, with nature’ and tried to dominate nature in all possible ways. In a grand scale and in world scale it started with the Industrial revolution – steam engines, coal, steel and machinery, and ultimately some things of common human consumption – textiles. In came Lancashire, with Manchester, Birmingham ... and also Leeds, Sheffield, and of course, London.

Manchester 20 Pound Paper Money, Courtesy http://britishmeuseum.org

But we may recall Tagore’s childhood memoirs of travelling in Britain where he could fancy using hand washed water as ink! Or we may recollect Hard Times by Charles Dickens, with its Coke Town where the atmosphere is smoke-filled. Of course the coffers of the entrepreneurs and government were brimming. (Their promissory paper notes were gaining huge acceptance, becoming currency.) On the other side, on the smoggy filthy roads of England poor children flocked with brooms to clean the road for gentlemen (a the-then PUNCH cartoon is reproduced here). While Dickens portrayed the situation by harrowing tales, Engels described the condition of life or the workingmen in England; and before some years, Keats was writing “To one who has been long in city pent” or Blake was scribing: 

1856 Punch Cartoon, courtesy: Universal Dickens

“When my mother died I was very young, 

And my father sold me while yet my tongue 

Could scarcely cry “‘weep! ‘weep! ‘weep! ‘weep!’”

So your chimneys I sweep & in soot I sleep”. 

Not just poverty in monetary sense, what disturbed the young genius minds of those times was also the appalling living condition, as if humans were like caged animals in the stifling and tarnished confine. 

We may think that we are not that poor now, our workmen and we all do not live in such a dreadful condition. But textile industry is still not environmentally benign. Let us see just 3 news snippets from last year (2014) and 3 more from this year (2015).

1.    Mar 13, 2014, Down to Earth, “The National Green Tribunal (NGT), on March 5, ordered suspension of work in the textile dyeing and printing units in Pali district which were operating without the necessary approval from the Rajasthan Pollution Control Board (RPCB).”

2.    Jul 25, 2014, Times News Network, KANPUR: “The district administration and the pollution department of Farrukhabad have issued directives to shut the textile dyeing units operating in residential areas and those polluting the Ganga.”

3.    Nov 14, 2014, Times News Network, Sanganer: From dyeing to dying, JAIPUR: Sanganer assembly constituency with 13 wards in Jaipur Municipal Corporation (JMC) has one of the highest levels of water pollution in the city. 

4.    January 15, 2015, The Hindu, “Tirupur textile park will worsen pollution’’ – The Vellore Citizens Welfare Forum (VCWF) has opposed the move of the Central government to set up a textile park in Tamil Nadu, particularly in Tirupur on the grounds that the cluster would aggravate the already serious problem of pollution caused by the dyeing units in Tirupur.

Flowing Filth, Erode, Picture courtesy M. Govarthan

5.    Feb 3, 2015, Times News Network, PATNA: National Green Tribunal (NGT) has threatened to shut down the industrial units causing pollution ...M/s Budhia Textile, located in Bhagalpur ... which was running without the consent ... has been closed. 

6.    Feb 17, 2015 Press Trust of India, Erode (TN): Power supply was disconnected to two textile printing factories here today after they were allegedly found discharging untreated effluent into drain, Tamil Nadu PCB officials said. 

Are not these pretty alarming? But what is the governmental response? It is frightening! Two more ‘news’ clips:

1.    Feb 18, 2015: The Economic Times (Delhi), DEBATABLE DECISION – Now, Delhi SMEs can produce sans Pollution Check...

2.    Jan 21, 2015: DNA, One-window approval process, 20-40% subsidy for setting up textile mills, easier pollution norms, reduced power tariff and all facilities nearby to convert "fibre to fashion"– these goodies are the part of the new proposed textile policy of Maharashtra...

So, what do we get? Where are we heading to!

Any person with a minimum acquaintance with Textile industry knows that the principal pollutant process is Dyeing. But it is not the only environmentally risky thing in itself. Of course dyes have lot of hazardous chemicals including heavy metals like chromium (in hexavalent form, which is very toxic), zinc, copper, manganese and even, in cases, traces of deadly cadmium.

Gap-Calvin-Klein-and-Levi-s-Responsible-for-Toxic-Textile-Town-in-China-2, Greenpeace

But there are many other textile processes besides dyeing which also lead to water pollution if not taken care of – for example sizing process, desizing process, rayon and polyester manufacturing etcetera. And these processes contribute to highly oxygen demanding wastes in effluent water. Dye leftovers, washings, oxygen-demanding wastes, organics, caustic ... water-bodies near textile mills are vulnerable to attacks from these. 

If we do not consider all these and get swayed by development & growth mania we must question ourselves: What a world we are bequeathing for our children and grandchildren!

Published in Business Economics, March 1, 2015 

Bitter Bites: the Simbhaoli Sugars Verdict

Can we simply wash our hands of?

Simbhaoli Sugars is one of our oldest, biggest and renowned sugar manufacturers. They sell sugar with brand name “Trust”. Just days before Dhanteras we got an unpleasant report – Simbhaoli fined Rs 5 crores by National Green Tribunal for polluting the Ganges. Rs 5 crores is not a large sum for Simbhaoli. Last week, in most markets sugar was near Rs3000/ton. So, 17,000 tons of sugar will do. Or by 2-3 average days’ sales proceed the Simbhaoli Sugars group can gather that money.

As Dussehra proverbs go, we could say “Evil shall not prevail”, “Anyay ka ant nyay ka uday” is accomplished, “the guilty is punished”, and there ends the story. But can we simply wash our hands of the matter? We cannot, because, many of us are connected with the whole affair somehow, directly or indirectly.   

 The court proceedings reminded us of a 2010 account written by Akash Vashishtha in Mail Today. To quote from the splendid reporting by Akash: “Black, stinking and toxic - that's the way villagers of Puth describe the Ganga's water. ... "The colour ... is black and it stinks ... Several large fish died last week. And four of our buffaloes were killed after they drank its water recently," Puth villager Raju said. ... The stretch [of the Ganges, from Bijnor to Narora] was the first to be declared a Ramsar Site in 2005, having rich species of freshwater dolphins (Ganges dolphins) and crocodiles ...”. It was July 2010 and Kirshan Kant Singh and his Social Action for Forest & Environment (SAFE) moved to the green Tribunal on 2013 with application number299. An interim order was issued on May 31 this year. What we can summarise from this is that nothing changed in between 2010 and 2014. What were governments and their PCB wings doing all this time?

In the interim order we find: “Both the Pollution Control Boards (CPCB and UPPCB) in their replies pleaded that the Respondent no 7 industry is a polluting industry and is a persistent defaulter and violated the various directions issued from time to time.” But we also find the industry’s pleas: “The Respondent-7 follows all the terms and conditions of the consent order issued by the PCB for the year 2012and 2013, both for Effluent Treatment Plant (ETP) as well as Air Pollution Control Devices.” How a persistent defaulter got the consent orders whatever be “conditions” therein? Besides, do the CPCB and UPPCB have no power whatsoever to stop a ‘persistent defaulter’? How can a country that is aspiring to be a world industrial powerhouse can function with such weak and miserable environmental wings! Or do our statutory authorities like PCBs lack enforcement power? People may wonder whether the government is serious at all in monitoring, controlling and abating environmental degradation and disasters.

It begets another question: will we have to depend on PILs by some citizen activists or NGOs to defend our rights of fresh air and clean water? K K Singh and his organisation SAFE have been fighting the legal battle concerning this case and many other issue for years. ANd as this is the season for Diwali and all sorts of crackers, we may remember the sound pollution limits and orders were based on some famous judgements. If we look at those from this angle, we may ask ourselves: are we dependent on “judicial activism” for protecting us from some polluting ‘demons’? And some citizen activists and organisations like K K Singh, SAFE etc? And some IAS officers like Durga Nagpal who tried to fight valiantly against sand-mafias to save land from erosion? If the case is so, that we are to depend on some activists, top-notch officers and judges to keep us and our environment safe, is it not a misfortune for a democracy? 

What the ISO, the International Standard Organisation people might be thinking now! Simbhaoli Sugars have ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 certifications. ISO 14001 is related to Environmental Management Systems and an ISO 14001 certified company may boast of having a sound environmental practice. Surely Simbhaoli had regular internal environmental audits and also external or third party audits and invigilation. If such a company is found as a ‘persistent defaulter’ by the judges at the National Green Tribunal, then the ISO 14001 tag surely lose some shine in public eyes, isn’t it? Whom the board members of any company will rely on if not the in-house environmental department and the auditors! According to EMS, persons responsible for specified activities are all documented. What penalty did those person(s) responsible get?

The business community has yet another bitter pill. They know how their organisations, the business chambers, help new entrepreneurs, including guiding them in getting ISO accreditations. Some chambers do lot more by providing trainings and other services. A site visit report is in the public domain: FICCI -M2M Project Facilitating Mechanisms for Advancing Methane Recovery and Use Projects in India; Assistance Agreement Number: XA-83367101-0. There we see that a team commissioned by FICCI visited that Simbhaoli site on December 2009. In that report there is absolutely no talk regarding unsatisfactory operation of waste treatment units, rather we find the appreciation. If everything was okay in Dec 2009, how did Akash find an opposite picture on July 2010? Was it a sudden development? FICCI may talk with the WWF; they have a station at Narora because of their concern with endangered species like the Gangetic Dolphins. WWF, or rather the Gangetic dolphins have been facing the industrial pollution problem for a long time. It is not that the picture suddenly became murky in 2010. This is not a flimsy issue, professional integrity and reputation may be questioned.  

Lastly, for us who were relieved by this verdict: let us conjecture how we can ‘valorise’ a Gangetic Dolphin or any other creature. How we can measure the ‘loss’ if we lose this endangered species? Can everything be monetised? Secondly, those fellows (Dolphins are very intelligent and they are mammals like us, so we may call them fellows) are dwellers of the Ganges from a time much before the arrival of man. They might be called the son of the soil, or, maybe, daughters and sons of Ganga. How do we have right of polluting their home by our wastes?

Stern admonition and Rs 5 crore fine cannot settle all these discomforting questions.  

a version of this was published in Business Economics, 16 - 30 November, 2014

the author is a chemical engineer and environmentalist