Fast unto death of Sant Aatmabodhanand and a World Bank Report on Ganga Basin

Demanding Aviral Ganga (Unimpeded flow of Ganga) 26-year-old Sant Aatmabodhanand of Matri Sadan Ashram, Haridwar, Uttarakhand is on ‘fast unto death’ for last 124 days. He is on fast since October 24, 2018. He is following the path of Swami Nigamanand, Baba Nagnath and Swami Sanand (Prof. G.D. Agrawal) who have sacrificed their life for the cause of Ganga. Swami Sanand died after 111 days of continuous fast. (Photo:Sant Aatmabodhanand)

The fast has exposed the face of ruling political parties which are slaves of their corporate donors who wish to continue to truncate, mutilate and poison Ganga to monetize her water and her minor minerals. Donors of western India and their politicians in collaboration with North Indian counterparts seem to have prepared a blue print to rob Ganga basin of every natural heritage in myriad disguises in the name of their monetary growth at the cost of Ganga.

World Bank Group and its staff of all shades have been promoting contradictory projects in the Ganga basin to disrupt the river by facilitating projects which are environmentally disastrous. Notably, projects which are destroying Ganga has either monetary or non-monetary support of the World Bank Group. 

The Hindu news report below refers to one of the recent reports of the Bank which is classic “Bankspeak”. A computer analysis of more than 65 years of the bank’s annual reports has revealed decline in factual precision of its language. For instance, Bank no longer talk about preventing hunger. It talks of “food security.” It must be remembered that the word “governance” made its first appearance in 1990. It has been statistically confirmed that Banks and donor driven NGOs are using less of concrete language. The assessment commissioned by the World Bank and submitted to the Central Water Commission merits scrutiny from the angle of ulterior motives of “Bankspeak”.  

Residents of Ganga basin must be wary of people who speak the language of the Bank and donor driven NGOs. Struggle for Aviral and Nirmal Ganga has failed so far because of such people. We must identify their trail by paying rigorous attention to their linguistic fingerprints because the world is "determined" by the language we speak and write. 

There is a need to expose parties and NGOs who are wittingly or unwittingly complicit in the ongoing killing of Ganga.

The struggle for Aviral and Nirmal Ganga faces threat from the harmful motives of all kinds of wage slaves in order to secure Aviral and Nirmal Ganga by making parties promise Aviral and Nirmal Ganga by recognizing the non-negotiable legal right of Ganga and other rivers in their manifesto. 

May 2019 general elections can turn out to be a referendum on enforceable legal rights of Ganga.

Gopal Krishna 

Ganga basin States stare at three-fold rise in crop failures by 2040

The Ganga river basin could see crop failures rise three-fold and drinking water shortage go up by as much as 39% in some States between now and 2040, says an assessment commissioned by the World Bank and submitted to the Central Water Commission.

If there is no intervention, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar are likely to see a deficit in irrigation water of 28%, 10%, 10% and 15% respectively in 2040 as compared to the current levels. Madhya Pradesh would see a 39%, Delhi 22% and Uttar Pradesh a 25% deficit in drinking water during the same period, the assessment released earlier this week noted.

“The volume of extracted groundwater is expected to more than double, leading to an increase in the critical blocks. Low flow values in the rivers are predicted to decline compared to present levels…Water quality and environmental flow conditions already critical will deteriorate further,” the report has warned.

The report is based on a modelling study that simulates river flow, water quality and groundwater levels in the different States and regions within the Ganga river basin.

To extrapolate, the model considered land use, infrastructure, population, industry and agriculture settings as well as the precipitation and temperature settings.

The aim of the report was to strengthen the “capacity for strategic basin planning, develop a set of scenarios for the development of the Ganga basin and build a strong and accessible knowledge base.”

 

Complete story is available at: https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/ganga-basin-states-stare-at-three-fold-rise-in-crop-failures-by-2040/article26353826.ece