A tale of two rivers

The importance of rivers goes back to the origin of civilizations. In other words, we humans owe our existence to the rivers. All the major civilizations were geographically located on banks of rivers. The Mesopotamian civilization, which came up with the world's earliest cities, was built up on the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. Similarly, the Egyptian Civilization depended on the Nile and the Chinese on the Yellow and Yangtse rivers. The first civilization of India, also known as the Indus Valley Civilization, was banked on the Indus river and the Ganges. The Indo-Gangetic Plain is still amongst the world's most fertile lands. Encompassing part of Pakistan, Northern India and almost all of Bangladesh, it supports one of the most populous areas on Earth, being home to one billion or nearly one-seventh of the world's population. Ganges and its most important tributary, Yamuna, are of paramount importance to the agricultural economy of India. Also, they are the two most venerated rivers on the planet. Ironically,and sadly, they top the charts in terms of pollution too! Well, this comes as a surprise. How can a river, which is considered as a Goddess by millions, be polluted, and that too alarmingly? Something is definitely wrong.

Let us start with Yamuna. Originating from the Yamnotri Glacier in the Himalayas, it meets Ganges at Allahabad also known as Prayag. The river has a glorious past. An ornament of Delhi, the capital city of the Mughals under Shahjahan, it was worth a spectacle. The wonderful Tajmahal built on the banks of the river in Agra added to the beauty of the river. But now things are not the same. The first big blow comes at Delhi itself where the discharge of waste water through several drains between Wazirabad barrage and Okhla barrage renders the river severely polluted. The water which was once blue and pure, is now black with sewage and other industrial waste. Unfortunately, the river, which is considered to neutralize all sins, is itself becoming a 'sewage drain' and is almost on the verge of dying.

Ganges, on the other hand, originates from Gangotri Glacier, also in the Himalayas and meets the Sunderbans Delta in Bay of Bengal. It traverses a much greater path than Yamuna and enters Bangladesh in its final course where it is known as river Padma. It has its place as holiest of all rivers in Hinduism. As compared to Yamuna, Ganges is still in a better position in terms of pollution, though the situation is still far from good. Ganges enters the plains at Haridwar. The Kumbh Mela is held once every twelve years at Haridwar and Allahabad, and it witnesses one of the biggest gatherings of devotees all over the nation. The evening prayer, Aarti, at Har Ki Pauri in Haridwar is a breathtaking spectacle which cannot be put into words per se. Though, almost clean at Haridwar, it is also abused as huge amounts of sewage and industrial waste is dumped into it. The river gets more polluted with each passing city in its course. Raj Kapoor's 1985 film, Ram Teri Ganga Maili, is the perfect allegory for the life of the river. The film depicts an innocent girl named Ganga, a resident of Gangotri in Himalayas, who goes in search of her husband love, all the way to Calcutta and is, in turn, abused by people she meets in the way.

The main reason behind the increasing pollution is improper management of the industrial waste and sewage. Though some initiatives have been taken by the government of India in the form of Ganga Action Plan and Yamuna Action Plan, the situation is still worse. The tanneries at Kanpur are one of the major sources of pollution of Ganges. Its a pity that despite the Sewage Treatment Plants, the Sewage goes into the river untreated just because there is a cut in the power much needed to run the plants. The pollution has increased to levels so high, that even the flora and fauna sustained by the river water have started to collapse.

I think the message is loud and clear. We need to hit the panic button right now. People must be educated about the severe consequences that will result if we do not mend our ways at the earliest. Education Institutes in general, and Schools in particular should take the initiative. Otherwise, it is highly likely that our future generations will be reading about these rivers only in history books under the apt title, "a tale of two rivers".