Skip to content or view mobile version

Home | Mobile | Editorial | Mission | Privacy | About | Contact | Help | Security | Support

A network of individuals, independent and alternative media activists and organisations, offering grassroots, non-corporate, non-commercial coverage of important social and political issues.

Scientist to Fast Until Death – Opposing HEP Dams on the Ganges, India

T | 13.06.2008 15:10 | Ecology | Globalisation | Social Struggles | World

Distinguished Indian environmental scientist Dr G. D. Agrawal today began his commitment to fast until death unless the country's government heeds protests and warnings against the construction of several hydroelectric power dams on the River Ganges.




On the festival of Ganga Dusshera marking the birth of the river Ganges, crowds gathered on the banks of one of its tributaries, the sacred Bhagirathi river, to begin a day-long collective fast in the north Indian town of Uttarkashi, a gesture repeated by thousands throughout the country to show support for eminent scientist Dr G. D. Agrawal in his protest against proposed and ongoing hydroelectric construction schemes in the area – a protest which will see him fast until death unless all such development work is stopped.

On a 125km stretch of the river’s 2525km length, running from the river’s source at the Gaumukh Glacier to this remote town nestled among the Himalayan foothills, a total of 6 hydroelectric power-plant dams are planned, seeking clearance or are already under construction, despite numerous protests and representations by local citizens. In pursuit of its agenda for economic growth, which depends heavily on the ready availability of energy, the Indian Government pushed planning applications through hastily, in the process destroying what those gathered here describe as the traditional Indian ethos of worshipping nature and living in harmony with it. Pained at the insensitivity of the project stakeholders, 76-year old environmental engineer Dr Agrawal has decided to go on fast from June 13 2008 until he dies, or until a satisfactory agreement is drawn up to cease any work which stems the Bhagirathi’s flow. He has said that he has no wish to outlive the river.

The many objections raised are rooted both in scientific, environmental and legal concerns, as well as those related to faith, culture and sentiment. Of the latter, it is stressed that for Hindus the Ganges is a divine flow, a living entity, a “mother”, and as such is worshiped: many Indian homes have a bottle of Ganges water for use in rituals, especially that of applying two drops to the forehead both at point of birth and moment of death. These beliefs led to a 1916 mass movement against the then British government which resulted in a written agreement committing that the flow of the Ganges will not be blocked completely. This agreement is mentioned in the Constitution of India, but has not been acknowledged.

At the same time, the feasibility, safety and economic viability of the proposed projects have been called into question, with many feasibility reports being kept confidential, and those accessible to interested parties found to be largely based on insufficient or very short-term data. Geological fault lines are present in the area, presenting enormous risks for those communities not forced immediately to move by the projects in the case of dam failure during an earthquake. Furthermore, past projects in similar areas have seen project costs escalate dramatically, not least due to the severe local geologic conditions.

The long-term environmental impacts are hard to measure, and as a consequence their importance is diminished in the feasibility reports. Drastic changes in water depths, velocities and silt-loads over long periods of time are bound to impact heavily on the distribution and survival of dependent flora and fauna species, especially migratory fish and benthic worms, insects and invertebrates; all critical elements in the food chain. The immediate loss of forests and vegetation in flooded areas puts endangered, endemic and sensitive species at further risk, and farmers too lose out since all their precious, irrigated fields in the region lie at low altitude along the banks of the river.

That these projects are deigned to satisfy a short-sighted need for energy to fuel India’s ‘development’ in the present is finally emphasized by recent studies concluding that the Gaumukh Glacier, whose perennial melting ice constitutes the Bhagirathi’s source, is shrinking at a significant, visible rate: the UN Environment Programme announced in March that as soon as 2030 the glacier, along with other Himalayan glaciers, may no longer exist. This being the case, there is every chance that if Dr Agrawal’s grave plea falls on deaf ears, then by mid century these valleys will be littered with giant, dry monuments to a bygone era, a time when those in power would sacrifice anything and everything in the pursuit of economic growth.


T

Upcoming Coverage
View and post events
Upcoming Events UK
24th October, London: 2015 London Anarchist Bookfair
2nd - 8th November: Wrexham, Wales, UK & Everywhere: Week of Action Against the North Wales Prison & the Prison Industrial Complex. Cymraeg: Wythnos o Weithredu yn Erbyn Carchar Gogledd Cymru

Ongoing UK
Every Tuesday 6pm-8pm, Yorkshire: Demo/vigil at NSA/NRO Menwith Hill US Spy Base More info: CAAB.

Every Tuesday, UK & worldwide: Counter Terror Tuesdays. Call the US Embassy nearest to you to protest Obama's Terror Tuesdays. More info here

Every day, London: Vigil for Julian Assange outside Ecuadorian Embassy

Parliament Sq Protest: see topic page
Ongoing Global
Rossport, Ireland: see topic page
Israel-Palestine: Israel Indymedia | Palestine Indymedia
Oaxaca: Chiapas Indymedia
Regions
All Regions
Birmingham
Cambridge
Liverpool
London
Oxford
Sheffield
South Coast
Wales
World
Other Local IMCs
Bristol/South West
Nottingham
Scotland
Social Media
You can follow @ukindymedia on indy.im and Twitter. We are working on a Twitter policy. We do not use Facebook, and advise you not to either.
Support Us
We need help paying the bills for hosting this site, please consider supporting us financially.
Other Media Projects
Schnews
Dissident Island Radio
Corporate Watch
Media Lens
VisionOnTV
Earth First! Action Update
Earth First! Action Reports
Topics
All Topics
Afghanistan
Analysis
Animal Liberation
Anti-Nuclear
Anti-militarism
Anti-racism
Bio-technology
Climate Chaos
Culture
Ecology
Education
Energy Crisis
Fracking
Free Spaces
Gender
Globalisation
Health
History
Indymedia
Iraq
Migration
Ocean Defence
Other Press
Palestine
Policing
Public sector cuts
Repression
Social Struggles
Technology
Terror War
Workers' Movements
Zapatista
Major Reports
NATO 2014
G8 2013
Workfare
2011 Census Resistance
Occupy Everywhere
August Riots
Dale Farm
J30 Strike
Flotilla to Gaza
Mayday 2010
Tar Sands
G20 London Summit
University Occupations for Gaza
Guantanamo
Indymedia Server Seizure
COP15 Climate Summit 2009
Carmel Agrexco
G8 Japan 2008
SHAC
Stop Sequani
Stop RWB
Climate Camp 2008
Oaxaca Uprising
Rossport Solidarity
Smash EDO
SOCPA
Past Major Reports
Encrypted Page
You are viewing this page using an encrypted connection. If you bookmark this page or send its address in an email you might want to use the un-encrypted address of this page.
If you recieved a warning about an untrusted root certificate please install the CAcert root certificate, for more information see the security page.

Global IMC Network


www.indymedia.org

Projects
print
radio
satellite tv
video

Africa

Europe
antwerpen
armenia
athens
austria
barcelona
belarus
belgium
belgrade
brussels
bulgaria
calabria
croatia
cyprus
emilia-romagna
estrecho / madiaq
galiza
germany
grenoble
hungary
ireland
istanbul
italy
la plana
liege
liguria
lille
linksunten
lombardia
madrid
malta
marseille
nantes
napoli
netherlands
northern england
nottingham imc
paris/île-de-france
patras
piemonte
poland
portugal
roma
romania
russia
sardegna
scotland
sverige
switzerland
torun
toscana
ukraine
united kingdom
valencia

Latin America
argentina
bolivia
chiapas
chile
chile sur
cmi brasil
cmi sucre
colombia
ecuador
mexico
peru
puerto rico
qollasuyu
rosario
santiago
tijuana
uruguay
valparaiso
venezuela

Oceania
aotearoa
brisbane
burma
darwin
jakarta
manila
melbourne
perth
qc
sydney

South Asia
india


United States
arizona
arkansas
asheville
atlanta
Austin
binghamton
boston
buffalo
chicago
cleveland
colorado
columbus
dc
hawaii
houston
hudson mohawk
kansas city
la
madison
maine
miami
michigan
milwaukee
minneapolis/st. paul
new hampshire
new jersey
new mexico
new orleans
north carolina
north texas
nyc
oklahoma
philadelphia
pittsburgh
portland
richmond
rochester
rogue valley
saint louis
san diego
san francisco
san francisco bay area
santa barbara
santa cruz, ca
sarasota
seattle
tampa bay
united states
urbana-champaign
vermont
western mass
worcester

West Asia
Armenia
Beirut
Israel
Palestine

Topics
biotech

Process
fbi/legal updates
mailing lists
process & imc docs
tech