Shankracharya designate Swami Avimukteshwaranand ji presided over an emergency meeting organized by Manushi Sangathan, Ganga Ahvaan and Ganga Yamuna Jal Biradri to express our strong protest against the patently illegal decision of the Group of Ministers giving clearance to the Loharinag-Pala dam on the Ganga River. The following expert members of the NGRBA also participated in the meeting to express their strong protest having been kept in the dark about the appointment of the GoM which has passed a virtual death sentence on the most sacred river of India: Rashid Hyatt Siddiqui, Rajendra Singh, Rama Raota and Ravi Chopra. Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh also joined the meeting for two hours to explain the Government’s stand.
It was communicated to the Minister that we consider this decision illegal and in bad faith for the following reasons:
Save Ganga Meeting presided over by Shankracharya designate Swami Avimukteshwaranand ji held at CSDS on 16th July 2010
<ul style="text-align: justify;"><li>The written assurance given by the Ministry of Power to Professor G D Aggarwal after his indefinite fast in 2008 that the Government would ensure an environmental flow for Mother Ganga. Professor Aggarwal has already informed the Power Minister that this betrayal by the Government leaves him no choice but to resume his fast unto death from July 20, 2010.</li><li>The public assurances given by the Minister of State for Environment on February 10, 2010 in Delhi before an all India Ganga Panchayat organized by the Ganga Jalbiradri and Manushi Sangathan comprising of important religious leaders and concerned citizens as well as at Matri Sadan on April 7, 2010 in Haridwar that the aviralta and nirmalta (uninterrupted ecological flow) of river Ganga would be ensured and these destructive dams would be scrapped. This promise had given us hope that the Central Government would put a halt to further destruction of our sacred rivers and the mighty Himalayas. </li><li>A team of three experts of NGRBA authorized by the Authority to visit the Project sites and prepare a report on the environmental impact of these Projects had given a very adverse report and unanimously recommended as recently as March 2010 that the Loharinag-Pala dam be decommissioned.</li><li>The decision taken by the GoM under the chairmanship of Mr Pranab Mukherjee can at best be treated as a recommendation because the deciding power actually vests with the Ganga River Basin Authority, which has not given any such clearance. Unfortunately, the construction company and the contractors involved in the project have taken it is a go-ahead signal to resume work on the dams. It is the responsibility of the Environment Ministry to ensure that the work on these destructive dams should remain suspended till a final decision is taken by the Ganga River Basin Authority.</li></ul>
Swami Avimukteshwaranand and Mr Jairam Ramesh engaged in heated arguments
Given the sense of betrayal felt by almost all who participated in the well attended meeting the following decisions were taken unanimously:
Dried Ganga after Maneri Bhali
It was the unanimous view of the gathering that these projects are not really meant for making power. Their real purpose is to make money for the Babu-Neta-Contractor Combine. Government was partial to exorbitant hydro projects because they facilitated large scale loot of public money.
The second explanation offered by Jairam Ramesh for reviving the suspended Loharinag Pala Project provoked a very heated exchange. He informed the gathering that the Government could not afford to abandon the Project because Rs 600 crores had already been spent on this Project while an additional Rs 2000 crores had been committed on account of equipment ordered for the project construction. The gathering found this inflated estimate unacceptable. At the time of Prof GD Agrawal’s fast unto death to save Ganga in 2007, the Government claimed to have spent Rs 400 crores on the Project. Thereafter the work had remained suspended. By February 2010, the Environment Minister claimed in a meeting organized by Manushi and Ganga Jal Biradri that the Government had spent Rs 600 crores. That is when Swami Avimukteshwaranand had offered to raise the full amount through donations by Ganga devotees to make good the loss provided the Govt. signed an MOU that it would scrap the Project if the money were reimbursed. We asked Mr Ramesh how could the Government order equipment worth Rs 2000 crores when it had not received environmental clearance.
When Avimukteshwaranand ji reminded Mr Ramesh that he had offered to raise the ransom money for freeing Mother Ganga of destructive dams, the latter dismissed it saying it was not a realistic offer and that such a huge amount could not possibly be raised through public donations. This enraged Swami ji who told the Minister that he was acting in bad faith and had no business to pass such a negative judgment on the commitment of Ganga devotees without giving them a chance to prove themselves.
However, the Environment Minister did openly declare that personally he was in favour of scrapping the Loharinag-Pala and other 300 bumper to bumper planned projects on Ganga and its tributaries because they were destroy not just the Ganga but also cause irreparable damage to the fragile Himalayas. But everyone was appalled when the very next moment he defended the Government’s decision on account of the abovementioned fiscal reasons. Most of us felt that Mr Ramesh owed to his own office to take a firm stand on the issue instead of buckling under the pressure of the Power and the Finance Minister.
The Minister showed great annoyance when Mallika Bhanot and Madhu Kishwar confronted him with two simple questions: If the Loharinag–Pala Project involves serious violation of environmental laws that he is expected to uphold, how then has he given a clearance to this Project as a member of the GoM? Why did he not inform the non government experts of NGRBA about the GoM?
Mr Ramesh’s evasive answers caused deep disappointment especially since he has always claimed that he is a convinced supporter of the Save Ganga movement and represents the cause of Ganga within the government.
The ball is once again in the citizens’ court. We have to do all we can to force the Government to act lawfully and responsibly in order to Save Mother Ganga from being destroyed by the greed of politicians and contractors.
We invite all concerned citizens to the next meeting of the
Organisers: Indic Studies Project in collaboration with Manushi Sangathan, Ganga Ahvaan and Ganga Jalbiradri
Date: 23rd July
Time: 4 p.m
Venue: CSDS, 29 Rajpur Road, Civil Lines, Delhi 110054
Contact Details:
Dr.Anil Gautam: 09412176896
anil_psi@yahoo.com
eqmgpsi@gmail.com