Ganga crinkles her nostrils at Kanpur

KANPUR, MARCH 6: The deserted bathing ghats are the only indication of the fact that the mighty Ganga once flowed close to the industrial...

KANPUR, MARCH 6: The deserted bathing ghats are the only indication of the fact that the mighty Ganga once flowed close to the industrial city.Now the holy waters are nowhere to be seen, with the river shifting course at a furious pace. The main stream of the river, which was seven km from the intake point (raw water source for the city) at Bhairon ghat here shifted a massive two km northwards over last year, raising fears of a severe drinking water shortage in the city, once known as the Manchester of India.

According to an official report, the Ganga first changed course in 1945, but continued to flow along the city till the early 1960s. However, when it continued its northward shift, a plan to build a barrage on the river was floated. Three decades on, construction is still to begin.

The bathing ghats, which once bustled with religious activity, are now in disrepair, the holy waters having been replaced with a massive open sewer. The nauseating stench from effluents pumped in at several points along theseven-km stretch between Bhairon ghat and the old Ganga bridge serve as a reminder to the fact that that precipitate action alone can bring the Ganga back to the city.

Kanpur now has only gets the Ganga’s downstream flow, with Cantonment and Jajmau on the mainstream.

The shifting of the Ganga’s course could spell disaster for the city. Water scarcity has affected business and trade. The religious rituals that bring to life the banks of the holy river across its course have all but disappeared, say concerned citizens.

Maintaining adequate rain water supply to the city requires regular dredging which costs the Kanpur Jal Sansthan, the agency that supplies water to the city, a massive Rs two crore per year, official sources say.

However, there is large-scale dissatisfaction at the tardy implementation of the Ganga Action Plan, which was aimed at cleaning the Ganga, and the delay in building the barrage has brought several non-governmental organisations (NGOs), local people and NCC cadets to the fore inthe fight to restore the holy river’s glory.

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Executive secretary of Eco-Friends, a NGO spearheading the movement for a cleaner Ganga, says the construction of the barrage is vital for bringing the river back to the ghats.

The Ganga Action Plan and the Ganga barrage projects should be linked and the Centre should release funds without delay as the cost of the barrage project was to be shared equally by the State and the Centre, he says.He also suggests formation of a Ganga Vahini comprising people from all walks of life to create awareness and support for the Ganga Action Plan.