When I was young, I was taught that ‘rivers are Lokmata’. I didn't quite understand this sentence then. But after working in the field of environment, especially in the field of tree plantation and ecosystem restoration, I have come to truly understand the phrase that rivers are indeed the mothers of our people! Because from the mountain tops to the ocean, our rivers have natural habitats for thousands of creatures inside and outside. There are thousands of trees or forests along the banks of hundreds of kilometers of rivers. And it is true that river water is useful for our life, agriculture and industries! That is why our big cities are located on the banks of big rivers!
However, we have not been able to take care of our rivers in the past decades. Especially the previous governments did not have much interest in environmental protection, let alone the river. That is why hundreds of rivers of our country got polluted. Owing to this reason, the living organisms inside the rivers were completely destroyed! Due to pollution, the ecosystem and biodiversity living around the banks of the rivers were also severely damaged. However, luckily for all of us, before our rivers were completely destroyed, we got a leader like Narendra Modi, who prioritised the purification of rivers since he was the CM of Gujarat
Talking about Gujarat only, we had never seen water in the Sabarmati river in Ahmedabad. Also, what to talk about the dirt that was around the banks of the river. And one can't even imagine the trees near the banks, although Modiji as the Chief Minister gave Sabarmati river utmost importance and today Sabarmati river has pure water all year round, a whole ecosystem has been created in the river and both the banks of Ahmedabad are covered with lush greenery, due to which the biodiversity of the city is also enhanced, restored and proving extremely beneficial.
A unique record has been achieved by the Sabarmati riverfront prepared by Modiji, where the Sabarmati riverfront with 38.2 kilometers is the longest riverfront in the world, where the presidents of China and Japan have enjoyed hospitality! However, Modiji is not limited to just river purification. He also understands the utilization of rivers. That is why he has brought the water of Narmada river till Kutch and Saurashtra. Due to which today, the industries in areas like Kutch are flourishing, and the farmers of Kutch have become very rich! Also, in hundreds of thirsty villages of Gujarat, water has been obtained very easily today.
Even after he assumed charge as the Prime Minister, he first expressed his respect for the rivers and created an entire ministry for cleaning the Ganga. Within a span of ten years he has made the Ganga clean again under the 'Namami Gange' project. Even the United Nations has taken note of the purification of the Ganga very seriously and has remarked that it is the first time in the world that a project worth thousands of crores has been launched to purify a single river.
Taking inspiration from Prime Minister Modi and under his leadership, many states of the country have also undertaken river purification and riverfront projects. Especially in Srinagar, the river Jhelum had become very dirty, and the rulers there did not get free time from playing politics on the terrorists. Owing to this reason, the Jhelum river of Kashmir, which is called heaven, became extremely polluted. In some places, even water could not flow because of the garbage! But after Kashmir became a Union Territory in 2019, the Indian government worked there on a war footing, and now the Jhelum has been cleaned at a cost of more than 50 crore rupees. Besides, the riverfront has also been prepared here. Due to this, the beauty of Jhelum will further increase, and the people of Kashmir, as well as the biodiversity of Kashmir, will benefit from it.
Something similar happened with the Chambal river in Rajasthan, too, where Chambal river was highly polluted and dying. But Modi has taken personal interest and allotted a grant of about 1500 crore rupees for Chambal redevelopment, and the project of purifying the river and transforming 27 different ghats on Chambal has been undertaken by him. Apart from this, projects worth thousands of crores have also been started for Brahmaputra in Assam, Musi in Telangana, and Yamuna river. Seeing that, it seems that the importance of rivers will be established in India again. People of India will also understand that rivers are not dumping grounds, but rivers are central to our biodiversity and ecosystems. However, the credit for making all this possible goes only to the central government of the country. Central government is serious about rivers, that's why such projects are being started and they are getting great results. Otherwise, the rivers would have continued to be polluted, and one day, we all would have faced a serious climate problem.
By Viral Desai
(The author is a known Environmentalist and the pioneer of Satyagraha Against Pollution movement, viraludayindia@gmail.com )
(The content of this article reflects the views of writers and contributors, not necessarily those of the publisher and editor. All disputes are subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of competent courts and forums in Delhi/New Delhi only)
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