Modi’s Varanasi development model is leading to a catastrophe

More than one lakh people in over 20 villages along the Ganga between Dashaswamedh Ghat and Banaras Hindu University Bridge in Varanasi are exposed to skin diseases, kidney diseases and even cancer because of contaminated water.

“The water table is receding very fast in these villages. Arsenic level is increasing. We have discovered bacteriological contamination, nitrate and arsenic in ample quantity in water samples in March and April, 2018. More than half of the population is already infected and suffering from one or the other disease because of consistent use of impure water,” said Saurabh Singh, arsenic expert of Inner Voice Foundation, an NGO working on arsenic mitigation across the Gangetic plains.

According to a survey conducted by the foundation, the arsenic level in the river water was 50 to 100 parts per billion (PPB) till November 2017 and grew to 200 to 300 PPB in April this year. As per the Government of India’s specification, 10 to 50 PPB is the permissible limit.

“It is unfortunate that the Central and state governments are recklessly destroying the natural ecological balance that used to keep the Ganga water clean. It is happening in the name of development of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s parliamentary constituency. Instead of flushing sufficient water in the holy river to keep it flowing and cleaning the naturally present pollutants with honest intention, the government is indulging only in gimmickry. Now, they are going to shift the turtle sanctuary from here to build a floating tourist village on the river, ignoring the fact that these reptiles keep cleaning the river water,” Singh told National Herald.

The turtle sanctuary is spread over a seven-kilometre-long stretch of the river in Varanasi in a notified area. Multiple researches have proven that the turtles keep the river water clean by consuming the human remains which are thrown into the waters.

The forest department in November 2014 had disapproved Central government’s plan to clean the ghats of the Ganga with the help of heavy machines and allowed only manual cleaning. But the Yogi Adityanath-led BJP government has allowed the use of earthmovers to clean the ghats and the rivers after taking over in March 2017.

Nitin Bansal, municipal commissioner of Varanasi, said on Thursday that they have planned to develop the tourist village on the river at a cost of Rs 70 crore, once the sanctuary was shifted from there.

“Work has been started along the ghats to make Varanasi a smart city,” Bansal told reporters.

But the arsenic expert reminded that the fish have started dying along the ghats ever since the government has started its “dubious development works” without making arrangements for treatment of sewer water, flowing directly into the river.

“Thousands of fish were found dead near Lalita Ghat on Thursday because of shortage of oxygen in water and presence of other pollutants. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that the growing arsenic level in the river water would soon start killing humans too,” Singh said, blaming the Central and state governments for “systematically killing the Ganga in the due course of trying to appear to be doing development works without any real intention to do so.”

Anil Kumar Singh, regional officer of Pollution Control Board, confirmed the death of the fish.

“The water may have got polluted because of some religious ritual performed there. A team is probing it. We are also probing other reasons behind growing pollution in the river,” the officer said.