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Bahuguna at Kumbh, sounds
alarm over damming Ganga

Prem Panicker in Kumbh Nagri

"This," said environmentalist Sunderlal Bahuguna, "is the last time you will be able to bathe in the waters of the Ganga, make the most of it."

The Chipko leader arrived at the mela site late on Friday, and from his base at the Nehru Yuva Kendra, promptly launched an attack on the Tehri dam. As per schedule, work on damming the waters of the Ganga will begin on February 15.

"Ganga," Bahuguna told this correspondent, "is the country's lifeline, both religious and social. Damming it will mean that the original waters, descending from Gomukh, will no longer reach Allahabad and other centres of pilgrimage."

Bahuguna also pointed out that the dam site falls in an earthquake-prone zone, adding to the danger.

The Chipko leader argued that the Ganga is vital to the sanctity of the land, and of the Hindu religion. "No ritual is ever performed in stagnant water," Bahuguna pointed out. "Once you damn the Ganga and contain its waters in the proposed 42.5 square km lake, the river will lose its sanctity, and the consequences of that on the psyche of the people cannot be calculated."

When it was pointed out that the VHP-led Dharam Sansad, in a resolution moved on Friday evening, had condemned the proposed Tehri Dam and vowed to fight it, Bahuguna said he was glad of the support.

"I have been fighting against this for some time," the ageing environmentalist said, "without any support. People keep talking about it, but no one does anything. I read recently that Swami Chinmayanand of the VHP has been speaking against the dam, but no, we have never met and exchanged ideas. It is good that someone other than me is also coming out openly against the dam."

Does he believe that the proposed hydel project can be stalled by protests? "Why not? It is not as if the same amount of power cannot be generated downstream as well, so there is no logical reason for the dam to be built at the proposed site.

"In 1916, when the British proposed to build a dam on the Ganga, Pandit Madanmohan Malviya had sat in dharna protesting the bid to stop the natural flow of the river -- and he won. I am sure that if like-minded people come together on this issue, then we can prevent the dam being built at Tehri."

Bahuguna, who says he will be here "for a few days", proposes to deliver a series of lectures on the issue, taking advantage of the large numbers of pilgrims now present at the mela site, to drum up support for his movement.

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