Along the holy river, a voyage of peril

By Shailesh Srivastava

It’s midday in Khidkiya Ghat. Boats float anchored to the river bank, unused, there are no tourists in sight. There’s nothing to see, really, apart from the cranes that have been deployed to dig up the earth - dredging work is in progress for the Prime Minister’s behemoth initiative in his own constituency, National Inland Waterway-1. Boatmen linger at the famous Assi Ghat – there isn’t much to do these days. The river has swollen and the holy land of Benaras was left crippled by the pandemic, which put paid to the thousands of pilgrims and tourists who visit all year round.

“The tourists who take rides on our boats give us Rs 100. Some even give us Rs 200. But once the big cruise ships start ferrying people and they get a sandwich and a water bottle, why would people want to come to our small boats?” Dinesh Manjhi has been a boatman at Assi Ghat for years. He stands on the riverbank, with his back to the water watching with growing alarm at the changes that he has no power to stall. Behind him, on the other side of the river are the Assi and Manikarnika Ghats, where work on the Multi Modal Terminal (MMT) is taking place at a frenzied pace. Manjhi’s fears are not unfounded and he doesn’t face them alone. Scores of other boatmen, fishermen and shop keepers fear for their livelihoods - and for the fate of the holy river itself.

Taking place in the Prime Minister’s constituency, the Ganga Waterway, known as the National Inland Water No. 1 and the Varanasi MMT are the central government’s flagship projects. The proposed 40-meter channel dug along the sandbank will facilitate the entry of ships from the terminal to the river. At a cost of Rs 5,369 crore, the foundation for the project was laid in November 2018 by the prime minister. Stretching from Haldia to Varanasi, the National Waterway 1 is purported to provide an alternative mode of environmentally-friendly and cost-effective transport.

An ecological disaster in the making

Experts disagree. The prevailing view among environment experts and activists alike is that the encroachment of a flood plain for residential or commercial purposes is bound to have repercussions. They warn that when a flood plain is encroached, the embankment that once contained the river will be swept away. The danger is more imminent now, with the rapid pace of climate change. The ‘Climate Change 2021’ report released recently by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, predicts an increase in annual mean precipitation, resulting in severe monsoons and flooding.

In August 2021, these predictions became alarmingly real as the Ganga’s water levels breached the danger mark in Varanasi’s Khidkiya Ghat. On August 11, the water level (according to the Central Water Commission) stood at 72.1 metres. To put things in perspective, the highest ever river flow was recorded in September 1978, when the water level stood at 73.901 metres.

The National Green Tribunal issued an order in 2017, prohibiting construction work within 300 metres from the banks of the Ganga in plain areas. Two orders have been issued by the Allahabad High Court, once in 2013 and again in 2019, also banning permanent construction within 500 metres from the Ganga’s highest flood point.

Professor Uday Kant, a well-known river expert and the director of the Mahamana Malviya Institute of Technology for Ganga Management, calls the project ‘unscientific’. “The sand banks are the Ganga’s permanent area, this is the floodplain of the river system. In this area, only sand is accumulated so it’s natural that in a few days, the channel will be filled with sand once more.”

According to the project report of the National Waterways 1, the ships need a depth of two to four metres and a width of about 45 metres to move freely in and out. Along the stretches where the river doesn’t have the required depth, it will be achieved by dredging. Although it is a crucial part of any waterways project, dredging, which involves the removal of sediments and debris from the bottom of water bodies to increase their depth and facilitate the movement of ships, invariably has adverse effects.

Decreasing water levels

Experts say that the bigger issue at hand for the National Waterways 1 is the decreasing level of water in the Ganga. Professor B. Tripathi is a former member of the Ganga Basin Authority and currently the chairman of the Madan Mohan Malviya Ganga Research Centre, part of Banaras Hindu University. “You can dig as much as you want,” he says. “But ships can only sail when there is water in the river. The biggest problem today is the decreasing water level. If there is water, ships can sail. If not, no amount of di