Ganga

RAJIV GANDHI SPEECH 1985

Rajiv Gandhi speech announcing Ganga Action Plan on June 14, 1986 at Dahsamedha ghat in Varanasi.

.....today on the banks of the ganga fed by the mighty snows of the Himalayas and stretching down 2500 kms to the bay of Bengal to the Indian ocean we see the area of India which sustains one third of its population and half its irrigated land – the properties of the waters of the ganges are well known – the ganges is a symbol of our prosperity our culture our heritage our civilization our philosophies – many of our religions link to the ganga and perhaps most of all it is the holder of our spirituality and our traditions (01.31.44)– panditji had said of the ganga the ganga especially is the river of India – beloved of her people round which are intertwined her racial memories her hopes and tears her songs of triumph her victories and her defeats – she has been a symbol of India s age long culture and civilization, ever changing ever flowing yet ever the same ganga. (01.32.20) the ganga binds us together – it imbibes a unity amongst our people it makes us one civilization – one nation the ganga is a symbol of our traditions of tolerance of synthesis of ….. of challenging the dark forces that undermine our unity and integrity that try to subvert our ethical and traditional values these forces of violence and separatism casteism of petty self seeking loyalties parochialisms and linguistic and other fanaticisms these are the forces which threaten to tear India apart – today we should pledge from here on the banks of the ganga to fight and uphold the unity to fight for and uphold the unity and integrity of India – not to be cowered by terrorism to preserve our traditional values our civilization – we are inheritors of 5000 years of wisdom – of a relentless freedom struggle against the mightiest imperial powers we must not allow this tradition to be subverted by divisions amongst our peoples by divisive forces within us our nation stands strong when we are secular – a secular India where every faith all people all cultures and languages are made stronger – an India where they all develop – to the benefit of each and every person in the country to the benefit of the nation – there is no place for narrow compartments or narrow loyalties we have to today strengthen the forces that bind India –

.....today we are starting very quickly the work of cleaning of the waters of the ganga in varanasi ....

.....the purity of the ganga was never in question – but still we saw that the river that is a symbol of the unity of our spirituality – its water was being allowed to become dirty – the cutting of the jungles the cutting of the trees is resulting in terrible floods – and the soil and the silt is flowing in the ganga – it is dirtying the water and it is making the river less deep – the ease with which boats could ply in the river they cannot do it anymore – along with that we are seeing that different kinds of pollution and the garbage of the cities industries and factories dead animals are being thrown into it – all kinds of garbage dirt we are throwing into the ganga – now we are going to stop that – now we are going to see that ganga water will once again start being absolutely clean – there are many big cities on the ganga – kanpur Allahabad patna calcutta from these cities and those other smaller cities there are 30 cities that have a population of more than 1 lakh – from these cities everyday there are 90 crore liter dirty water and garbage and dirt being thrown into the ganga – we are trying in the 4 5 years that this water that comes into the ganga will be cleaned before it is thrown in or not thrown in at all – this way .....

.....the people living close to the ganga will have an improvement in their health and it will affect your lives – but this work cannot be done by the govt itself alone – the govt will definitely see to it that the dirty water is not thrown in we will see that laws are implemented in which only clean water reaches the ganga – and our effort will be that from the dirt of the cities we can generate power and then only the clean water be thrown into the ganga – the ganga action plan is not the plan of the govt alone it is not the created for the p w d (public works dept) and govt employees – this program has been created for the entire Indian public – and the public has to take part in this and the public has to come forward and the ideas of the public – so that wherever the ganga reaches out we can keep it clean again – and we don’t throw dirt (** gandagi is a comprehensive term – dirty things, pollutants, sewage, garbage etc) into it – we have taken the first step and we have cleaned it in hardwar and hrishikesh – you have seen that during the past kumbh mela the color of the ganga water was changed – it is our hope that just as the color of the water changed in hardwar and hrishikesh just like that in the coming years it will change in varanasi and Calcutta...

...and along with it we are also trying that where trees have been cut where land is becoming barren we plant more trees so that the soil will not flow down and so there are no floods – with social forestry that will reclaim wasteland it is our hope that we will be able to solve this – and we will be able to deal with it – and along with that we are seeing that all the dirt that comes from the cities the dirt that is thrown into the ganga – it is stopped and to do this we have made a very strict law – law to save the environment - when we talk about saving the environment then we talk about saving mother India – because when the environment is bad then a piece of mother India dies is finished and to make it come alive again just like it was done in the olden times – it is our hope that the entire public of India will take part in this program in such a way that this program will become like a revolution for the masses – the program that is being started from the ganga in varanasi – it will reach the corners of the country and it will reach all the rivers of India and in the coming years not just the ganga but all the rivers of India will becomes clean just like this – just as it was for thousands of years before...

...on the banks of this ganga tulsidas wrote the ramcharitramanas and on this ganga sant ravidas sat and on this ganga just a few kms away gautam Buddha in sarnath gave for the first time his speech and also jains the four tirthankars –

...we have to see that ganga does not remain just a symbol but it should be such a symbol that will become a part of our everyday life and become a part of the future of India and make India strong – today we are beginning the program of cleaning ganga here – and it is our hope that through this there will be a sewage plant built and where all the sewage will be diverted – and wont come into the ganga – we will get power from that also – and we will get fertilizer from it and the power that will be required it will make it itself – it is our hope that the bridge for many years was broken the foundation stone that was laid by indira ji – that will be built quickly...

...When our govt came into power we started the work immediately and by December it was passed and we have the loan from the world bank and now the tenders are happening and it is our hope that very soon the work will begin and we will see that it will be built very soon – and in the end – just as in the beginning - like the water from rivers from all corners of the country mixes in the ganga – in the same way from all corners of the country we will gather the strength and make it the strength of India and make the unity of India and make it more powerful – thank you jai hind...