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GANGA
IS LITTERED WITH CORPSES
Eco
Friends undertook a massive Ganga Clean-up Campaign in two phases
(April
19 & April 20, 2004)
Eco
Friends conducted a massive Ganga Clean-Up Campaign on April 19
and 20, 2004. The objective was to make the 10 km stretch of Ganga
in Kanpur visibly clean by removing dead bodies and other solid
trash from the river. The campaign also aimed to sensitize the
masses that Ganga, which is our lifeline and heritage, has been
polluted beyond measure. We also wanted to attract attention of
the government authorities towards the sources of Ganga pollution
and evolve a long-term strategy to control growing pollution in
Ganga. Also to bring to the fore that the court orders carry no
meaning
DAY
ONE (Apr.19)
Eco
Friends fished out 25 corpses, 100 kgs of polybags and huge quantity
of worship material from Ganga
Eco
Friends fished out 25 corpses from a 4 km stretch of Ganga in
Kanpur (Old Ganga Ghat Bridge to Massacre ghat). These decaying
bodies were given a proper burial at Massacre ghat of Kanpur.
The
Ganga Praharis (Ganga Keepers) of Massacre Ghat, Gola Ghat, Shukla
Ganj and Dapka ghat took part in the cleaning campaign. The Ganga
Praharis under the leadership of Bhagwan Das had made all the
preparations a day before. 19th morning the river watchdogs started
their Operation Clean Ganga and fished out the corpses they came
across between Shukla Ganj and Massacre ghat. All these bodies
were assembled in a huge pit and then covered with the soil at
Massacre ghat.
It
was Sattu Amavasya, a bathing festival, on 19th. Hundreds of devotees
congregated on the banks of the river and littered the banks with
polythene bags, idols, bottles, clothes and other waste materials.
Eco Friends' team along with some volunteers picked up the waste
and cleaned the banks. Around 100 kgs of polybags were collected
from the river and its banks. We also distributed handbills to
the devotees, pasted thousands of pamphlets in densely populated
areas of the town and made announcements by using the PA system.
While
talking to media, Rakesh K Jaiswal, Executive Secretary of Eco
Friends expressed his deep concern about the pathos of river Ganga
in Kanpur. He said, "People as well as government authorities
are responsible for the deplorable state of Ganga. The river will
soon become the carrier of only city sewage, toxic industrial
effluent and dumping ground for dead bodies and all kinds of dirt,
filth and trash, if urgent preventive and remedial measures are
not taken."
DAY
2 (Apr 20th)
Eco
Friends fished out 35 corpses, 80 kgs of polybags and 100 kgs
of worship material from Ganga.
Ganga
Praharis fished out 35 corpses from a 6 km stretch of Ganga in
Kanpur (Massacre ghat to Sidhanath Ghat, Jajmau). The retrieved
corpses were buried in a pit at Dapka ghat. 5 animals' carcasses
were buried in a separate pit at the same place. Eco Friends'
team also removed approximately 80 kgs of polybags and 100 kgs
of worship material.
Through
this campaign, we succeeded in garnering the support of the Ganga
communities whom we reckon as the custodians of the river. But
we failed to evoke any interest in government agencies.
The
Ganga Clean-up Campaign got wide coverage through media. A
team of filmmakers from Bullseye TV - Sky One (UK) also documented
the cleaning program.
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