In a letter to West Bengal Chief Minister Ms. Mamta Banerji, Convener, Ganga Mukti Aandolan, Anil Prakash urges and seeks support to the cause of saving the Ganga basin which will give immense strength and momentum to protect the life of millions of people who depend on it for their survival. That Government of Bihar has announced to oppose the Central Governments scheme of construction of series of barrages on Ganga between Allahabad and Haldia. Since the river ultimately culminates in Bengal and the Scheme is likely to adversely affect Bengal, Gnga Mukti Andolan expects similar stand from the Government of West Bengal. Therefore this letter with the following details, facilitating the state Government to take a firm stands:
In this age of Free Trade Agreements, the Government of India is taking many decisions, without consulting the concerned states and without providing any information to the people affected by these decisions. The present case is the proposed scheme of Ganga basin. From the reports it is gathered that the Government of India is planning to build a cascade of barrages on the Ganga from Allahabad to Haldia, reportedly enabling movement of large cargo and tourist ships, which is likely to convert the Ganga into a number of reservoirs. The upstream migration of fish to their spawning areas will also be prevented. Moreover, huge deposition of sediments will take place and will raise the riverbed, leading to an increase in bank erosion and floods. The one-point release of water from the barrages for flushing will lead to erosion of downstream lands.
It appears that no lesson has been learnt from the effects of Farakka, which was modeled on the lines of the Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC). Both of them have already caused irreparable damage to the ecology of the region. By the late 1950s evidence was mounting that the projections made by the planners of the DVC had got it all wrong. The greatest demerit in the DVC was the sharp decline in the discharge capacity of Damodar River. By 1959, the depth of Calcutta port had declined considerably after the construction of the Maithon and Panchet dams. The discharge capacity of several other rivers in the region like Jalonshi, Churni, Mayurakshi, Ajai and Roopnarayan also declined greatly, contributing further to rise of the Hooghly bed. The situation reached to the point by the late 1950s that large ships stopped coming to Calcutta port and instead opted for Diamond Harbor.
Farraka barrage commissioned in 1975 was built primarily to regulate flow of Ganga water to Bangladesh and to provide more water to Hoogly. However, an alarming development has been the steady decline in the depth of Ganga, resulting in the rise of river bed, which continues to increase every year in Malda and Murshidabad districts. Obstructions in the natural flushing of the sediment, due to Farakka barrage has led to untold misery to the people of Gangetic region of West Bengal, Bihar and Eastern UP, as the river bed of all tributaries of Ganga has risen steadily. Thousands of Chaurs (lowlands) which previously remained flooded only during the monsoons now remain submerged up to ten months in a year; alarmingly increasing infectious disease and turning fertile soil into alkaline. Lacs of acres of once fertile land in Bihar have already turned into barren land.
Overall 80 per cent decline in the fish population has been noted in the upstream of Farakka Barrage. Large fishes, once found in abundance in the Ganga and its tributaries are no longer available. Millions of traditional fishermen are facing the brunt. Resultantly, the close relationship between fishermen and local customers have now been replaced by air-conditioned trucks and ice-laden crates of fish brought in by large companies from other states such as Andhra Pradesh.
The Farakka Barrage has adversely affected the ecology and economy of Bangladesh too. Before 1975 Ganga used to flush out into the Padma basin in Bangladesh and would spread alluvial soil in agricultural fields. The barrage has disrupted this natural process. Now tides of the sea fill sand in the bed of Padma and also the fields around it. Lakes and ponds are filled with saline water. Fall in the ground water level has resulted in drying up the shallow tube wells and dug wells. The Barrage has caused serious damage to land and populace, both upstream and downstream and has portents of much greater havoc.
Chain of barrages will worsen the situation.
Ganga is not merely conduit carrying water from the catchment area to the sea. It also transports sediment, forms and sculpts land, builds the estuary, provides water and nutrients to the sea and marine life, controls the incursion of salinity from sea, supports wildlife and aquatic life, sustains biodiversity, provides livelihoods to people along the banks, influences the micro-climate, recharges aquifers, and copes with pollution and purifies and regenerates itself. It may also act as a conveyor of commerce, but that is only one of its multiple functions.
Since 1982 fisher-folk and peasants of Ganga region are contending that river projects like dams, barrages and embankments are leading to economic downfall on account of fish depletion, submergence and fertile tracts turning alkaline. The movement now questions the very model of development which is destroying Ganga and also those dependent on it for their livelihood.
In view the danger involved in the Central Government scheme, a two day seminar cum congregation of the representatives of the society, thinkers, writers, artists, citizen scientists, engineers and social scientists, cultural activists, people concerned with and affected by the devastation of our rivers, held at Muzaffarpur on 25th. and 26th. September, 2014, at the end of which a declaration, entitled “Muzaffarpur Consensus” was adopted, the copy of which is enclosed herewith for your perusal. Following that Minister of Water Resources of the Government of Bihar had immediately issued a statement opposing the Central Government scheme. We expect the Government of Bengal also to rise to the occasion and take a firm stand on the issue. It can also be demanded that the state Government should through the state.
