Shiva’s Hair – Gaumukh
The Ganges River, sacred to the Hindus, presided over by the mother Goddess Ganga, flows from Shiva’s locks to water the Indo-Gangetic plain from the melting glaciers of the Himalayas. Now, with global warming, the glaciers are receding, affecting the flow of water in the Ganges and its tributaries from the reduced glacial melt and the glaciers are receding every year. This recession has been measured by Indian scientists at an alarming rate.
Surface heating over the Tibetan Plateau has played a dominant role in changes of the Indian summer monsoon intensity. This is being affected by increasing de-forestation and forced migration policies introduced by the Chinese government into the Tibetan Autonomous Region. In addition, mining operations and the testing of nuclear weapons also impact on this geosphere.
The Gaia Hypothesis originally proposed by James Lovelock is basically one in which the earth is viewed as a living organism on which all life is interdependent. The Indian government has protested the responsibility to contain global warming lies with those nations such as the United States that produce the greatest amount of CFC’s and only now, the new US administration has stated its willingness to address the issues outlined in the Kyoto Protocol. However, India needs to take a more pro-active stance since its entire economy depends on its ecological sustainability, particularly with regard to its agriculture dependent on good monsoons and its industry and settlements dependent on an adequate water supply.
There is a third factor that is even more alarming than those outlined above. In order to meet its increasing energy needs, the Indian government has proceeded with a program of building massive hydro-electric schemes in the Garwhal Himalayan region of Uttaranchal to provide electricity to industry in Uttar Pradesh at cheap rates. http://www.euttaranchal.com/uttaranchal/highlight/tehri_dam.php
The Tehri Dam in Tehri District of Uttaranchal on Bhagirathi River, the main tributary of the Ganges, will be the world's fourth biggest dam when completed and is considered by many to be an absolute failure in terms of its overall operation. Entire villages have been re-settled and the lower reaches of the Himalayan river valley flooded, with devastating effects on the ecology of the region. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tehri_dam/ The scale of the devastation is on par with that of the Sarda Sarovar Narmarda scheme where massive resettlement programs were forced on the villagers there. http://www.sardarsarovardam.org/
Another smaller dam built in the 1980’s in the higher reaches of the Ganges River above Uttarkashi releases water regularly that raises and lowers the river level by up to three metres a day that plays havoc with the fragile riverine ecosystem, disturbing its aquatic life and ultimately will result in the death of the river as a vital source. Swami Premananda of the Divine Life Society, Sivananda Ashram said the water in the Ganges is described as a ‘flow of medicine’ in the Yoga Vasishta by Valmiki.
The Ganges is sacred to the Hindus as the source of life itself, and every year, thousands of tourists flock to Gangotri in push-back luxury buses from Delhi through Uttarkashi to take the Darshan of the Goddess in the famous temple that houses the shrine of the deity. Spiritual tourists on the Char Dham Yatra (Yamunotri, Gangotri, Kedarnath, Badrinath) pilgrimage usually leave the same day after taking Puja at the temple by the river Ganges. After the temple opens in the first week of May, the tourist buses are lined up for at least 5km to the town itself. This increasing onslaught of people into a remote area has brought its own problems such as pollution of the environment and waste management. At the hot springs on the way, the water in the hot baths is already filthy by morning. Backpackers regularly trek up to Gaumukh, the source of the Ganges that is an increasingly fragile and hazardous route.
The Power Ministry of the Union government administered offices in Dehra Dun has planned more dams on the Alakhananda River, that joins the Bhirigathi River as it flows in to form the Ganges at Devprayag. This plan poses the greatest threat to the Himalayan region and will be an environmental disaster of the worst kind. It will fundamentally alter the course of the river, and its riverine ecosystem in perpetuity.
These proposed hydro-electric schemes are to provide power to industry in Uttar Pradesh and do not supply local villages in the Garwhal region. These people still depend for the their energy supplies on LPG, gasoline, kerosene that has to be brought in by freight and wood that is leading to increased de-forestation of the river valleys and associated erosion, loss of top soil and increasing siltation of the river system.
March 25, 2008
by Susanne Wong
March 2008 World Rivers Review http://www.internationalrivers.org/en/node/2617
For 15 days in January, hundreds of men, women and children marched across river valleys of India's Uttarakhand state to raise awareness about government plans to build dams. The government intends to build 220 large, medium and small dams in the upper reaches of the Ganges River basin, the country's holiest of rivers. Organizers say the scheme will transform the sacred Ganges into a plumbing system with all of the life engineered out of it.
"Our lakes and rivers, even the sacred Ganga, are in a rapidly deteriorating state. Our lives, work and cultures are threatened. If things go on unchecked, the continued existence of many villages is in question," said Dr. Ravi Chopra of the Uttarakhand Nadi Bachao Abhiyan. Most of the upper reaches of the Ganga will dry out with the extensive damming, critics argue.
Marchers for the Ganga visited 150 villages in 14 river valleys. Here, Alaknanda river valley walkers approach Srinagar.Collectively, marchers visited 150 villages in 14 river valleys, including the Alaknanda valley where they met with villagers protesting the Kotli-Bhel hydropower project. Four people in Maletha village launched a fast-unto-death on January 15 to stop construction of the dam. On the eighth day of the fast, a state government minister met with protesters and promised that construction would be halted so the government could review the project with the participation of local people.
In Uttarkashi, activists held a rally urging the state government to stop the construction of dams on the Bhagirathi River. They argued that the government should first ensure that communities affected by an existing dam are adequately compensated.
Villagers in Chayeen village are already facing impacts due to dam-related construction. "Our village has been devastated by subsidence due to the tunnel for the Vishnuprayag hydroelectric project," said Geeta Bagasi. "The administration turned a deaf ear to warnings by the villagers that construction of a tunnel in this mountain was a hazard." Land subsidence destroyed the homes of 30 families in her village, and another 100 families are at risk.
The statewide actions are part of a larger effort to gather information, mobilize communities and put pressure on the government. Activists complain that environmental impact assessments for the projects were hastily prepared and incomplete.
"We are not campaigning against hydropower generation in Uttarakhand," said Chopra. "We believe, however, that there are better ways to generate hydropower that pose less of a threat to people's lives and livelihoods."
The protests culminated in a statewide meeting to share findings and discuss future strategies. Campaigners presented the state's Chief Minister with a petition calling for a moratorium on dam construction until a comprehensive hydropower policy is developed in cooperation with dam-affected people. The Chief Minister told the press that the government would review the state hydropower policy.