Be it Sheila, Modi, Jaya or Hooda, the growth stories our efficient,
visionary CMs flaunt have a common blind spot: The death of rivers, and dearth
of groundwater, in their rich states.
Delhi will be the
first Indian state to allow FDI in retail. Sheila Dikshit has already launched the
Aadhar-based direct cash transfer scheme in her model state, declaring, rather unwittingly,
that R 600 should be enough to feed a family of five.
For all his protestation
in sync with the party line, Vikas Purush Narendra Modi has never refused any
FDI (or any investment, for that matter) and is likely to open up retail once
he bags the third consecutive mandate from the Gujaratis ostensibly on the
development plank.
Delhi and Gujarat are
not the only states run by “pragmatic, popular and efficient” chief ministers
who don the image of CEOs who get things done in their states. J Jayalalithaa
is another suave politician who rules one of India’s most prosperous states.
The no-nonsense BS Hooda is the face of his government and Haryana’s so-called
economic boom.
These powerful
leaders belong to different political parties and their governance models, a
generous degree of autocracy apart, are not exactly the same. But all of them are
admired for their ability to deliver and credited with rapid development in
their states. They also have in their custody India’s most polluted rivers.
The Central Pollution
Control Board (CPCB) has identified 35 most polluted river stretches of the
country. The quality of water depends on its dissolved oxygen (DO) level that
determines how much aquatic life it can support. When water is polluted, the
organic waste in it is decomposed (oxidized) by bacteria and microbes. The
level of pollution determines the biological oxygen demand (BOD) for the decomposition
process. High pollution means high BOD which reduces the DO level, resulting in
dead waters that cannot support life.
For human use such as
drinking, bathing, washing and irrigation, the fitness level of water is
measured by BOD levels which indicate the amount of sewage in it. According to
the CPCB, “water bodies having BOD more than 6 mg/litre are considered as
polluted and identified for remedial action”.
Discussing pollution in
the Yamuna on TV a few years ago, a conservationist infamously crooned a parody
of “Ram tera Ganga maili”, substituting the god-warrior with an “impeccably
cultured” CM. His prime time etiquette may have been questionable but not the
facts. The Yamuna records a BOD level of 32-70mg/litre in Delhi. While the
river is dead for nearly 100 km from Panipat to Wazirabad, Delhi contributes
600 million gallons of untreated sewage to the river through its 18 drains
every year.
Sabarmati records a
BOD level of around 30mg/litre at Ahmedabad’s VN Bridge or Railway Bridge. A
few miles away, the pollution level shoots up to 103mg/litre at Miroli village.
Two other poison rivers -- Amlakhadi records BOD of 714 milligram/litre at
Ankleshwar and Khari 320 mg/litre at Lali village – make Gujarat probably the
worst Indian state in terms of river water quality.
The vibrant Gujarat
image resonates with hundreds of textile, paper and sugar mills, distilleries,
tanneries, dye manufacturers and other chemical factories that churn out pesticides,
pharmaceuticals and petrochemicals. Together, these units have also caused the state’s
many rivers to stagnate with pollutants and subsequently choke.
Along
Chennai, Coovum records a BOD level in excess of 100 mg/litre due to dumping of
industrial and municipal wastewater. The other Chennai river, Adyar, records a
BOD level of above 40mg/litre near the boat club. Between them, the two rivers
receive the bulk of the city’s 55 million tonnes of untreated sewage. Not too
far away, a noxious Noyyal river laden with discharge from dyeing and bleaching
units has turned the town of Tirupur infertile with scores of patients crowding
IVF treatment centres.
The story repeats in
Haryana where industrial and domestic waste is responsible for the 600mg/litre
BOD level in Markanda river. The Western Yamuna canal in the state is also
choked with effluents and show a BOD count of above 200mg/litre. Ghaggar is
also packed with effluents in the industrial belt of Sirsa but it already
carries loads of waste from Derabassi and Patiala in Punjab. Even rainwater
canals of Chandigarh – Attawa and Sukhna Choe – record a BOD level of
50mg/litre due to discharge of sewage.
Haryana and Delhi are
also the states that have been registering the fastest loss of groundwater in
the country. While experts blame the dominance of water-intensive crops such as
paddy in Haryana, the construction boom in an ever-thirsty Delhi has destroyed
its water bodies and poured concrete on every patch of soil, stopping rainwater
from percolating down.
In 2004, aquifers in 50
per cent of Gujarat were in semi-critical to over-exploited condition. Things
have improved since in 60 tehsils, thanks to the government’s initiative to
encourage check dams. But large areas in northern Gujarat, such as Banaskantha,
Patan and Mehsana, are still parched. Worse, fluoride and nitrate levels in
groundwater are above the permissible limit in most parts of the state.
Tamil Nadu also faces
severe groundwater shortage as only five out of its 32 districts have
reasonably healthy aquifers. With so little to dig into underground, one
expected the progressive chief ministers of these prosperous states to zealously
look after their surface water stock. Each of them engages in bitter
inter-state battles over river water sharing. But that water itself has become
poison under their watch.
Of course, rivers are
dying across the country and Delhi, Ahmedabad, Chennai and Chandigarh are not
the exceptions. Be it Gomti along Lucknow, Mithi in Mumbai or Bharalu in
Guwahati, big cities are choking rivers with waste. Poverty is often cited as
the biggest excuse for pollution. This makes the so-called prosperous states who
claim to have done away with much of poverty more culpable.
Do the visionary
images of chief ministers who brag about development in their states take a hit
when they fail to notice how the lifelines of their people and economy rot,
stink and choke to death? Or is it now per for the course to allow any industry
anywhere without bothering about land use or waste disposal implications?
In the short term,
such growth puts money in some people’s hands and makes politicians popular.
Sheila, Modi, Jaya and Hooda have all been re-elected as chief ministers in the
past. Tomorrow when they win again, they will want the world to believe that
they are rewarded for their good work, bringing development to their states. There
is no trial yet at the people’s court for murdering their most vibrant rivers.
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