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A drying Ganga disappoints devotees
Haridwar: Perhaps it is for the first time in the history of Haridwar, visiting pilgrims and saints are not able to have a dip in the Holy river as it has dried up. With the belief that a dip in the holy river will wash away all their sins, every year devotees in large numbers take a dip in the river Ganga at Har-ki-pauri in Haridwar. But these days, devotees are not happy as they are not able to take a proper dip due to the drying up of the river. According to the residents and local priests, the main reason for low levels of water is the construction of the Tehri dam. The water is blocked with dam for six months. They are facing this situation since October 29 when the Uttaranchal High Court ordered the closure of the last diversion canal, the T-2 of the 2,400 megawatt Tehri hydroelectric project. The waters of the Bhagirathi and the Bhilangana rivers began steadily inundating the villages.
"The main reason for the depleting water levels of Ganga is the Tehri
Dam. Secondly, the width of Bhagirathi point was decreased from 220 to
40 feet. Now one will find only 1 or 1.5 feet of water at Har-Ki-Pauri,"
Ganga Sabha Chairman, R K Mishra said. "I am working here for the last
50 years. I have never seen water level going so low. Now it is happening.
People are unhappy and dissatisfied with their visit. All this is happening
because of the Tehri dam. They have blocked the water and we are not even
getting pure Ganga water. We are getting Alaknanda water here," a local
priest L R Sharma said. Since the flow of the river with much religious
importance would now get arrested in the reservoir, the water that enters
the plains would not be the "real" Ganga. Har-Ki-Pauri is receiving water
from river Alaknanda. With the arising situation, devotees are complaining
of low water levels and they are very unhappy. "There is little water
here. It is very sad. We used to take a proper dip in the holy water earlier.
Now people are finding it difficult to fully immerse their bodies in water.
They are using mugs to pour water. There is very little flow," a devotee
Shalini said. "I am very unhappy after seeing low water level here. Six-seven
years ago, we could take a proper dip but now we only find knee deep water.
Day by day the level is going down," another devotee Bansi Lal said. Scarcity
of water at Har-Ki-Pauri brings a shock for the devotees and they say
that the government is playing with their religious sentiments.
-Mar
23, 2006
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