Manasa Ganga Cleaning Rushed, Botched

Govardhan (based on report in Dainik Jagran, 2010.07.07): Nobody would have dreamed that the cleaning of the Manasa Ganga would end up this way. After so many difficulties and an expenditure of more than 22 crores of rupees, the tank is being refilled with dirty water. The very limits of carelessness have been exceeded by allowing dirty water from the surrounding drains to empty into the tank.

This coming full moon is Muriya Purnima, on which day millions of people come to Govardhan to do parikrama and to bathe in the Manasa Ganga. The festival commemorates Guru Purnima and the disappearance of Sanatan Goswami. The expected influx of pilgrims into the area may exceed 10 million. It is the biggest such event of the year in the Govardhan area.

The government authorities in charge of development were pushing to have the samskar of the the tank ready by this date, and so they pushed forward with refilling before the sewage treatment facilities had been completed.

Work on cleaning and restoring Manasa Ganga has been going on for nearly a year now. The entire purpose of the effort was to get rid of the polluted waters by draining the reservoir, excavating the bed, and then refilling it with clean water. Now it seems that they due to mismanagement, they are simply reverting to the original situation, proving that the entire expenditure has been a waste.

A pumping station was being built on the Radha Kund Road at a cost of several crores, but it has not been completed. It does not seem that it will be ready for some time yet, and the machinery to do the water purification is not yet in place.

Several of the ghats that were to be repaired are as yet incomplete. Throughout this all, a great deal of noise is being made about the Muriya Purnima preparations. Fearful that the Manasa Ganga would still be empty when the influx of pilgrims came, it was decided to start filling it now, even though by any standards it would have been premature.

Water coming into the reservoir from the Chakleshwar side on Wednesday was observed to be mixed with filthy mud, causing great concern to everyone. Local people are saying that they could not imagine that this would be the end result of a project in which so much money had been invested. They are asking what was the point of doing all the excavation and filling up the Manasa Ganga if pilgrims and local people are once again going to have to bathe in dirty water.

The assistant District Magistrate, Rakesh Malpani, has been informed of the situation and is looking into the matter.

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Drownings at Braj's ghats

In related news, on June 29, Dainik Jagran reported the drowning of a 5-year-old child in the Manasa Ganga. The reason seems to be that she lost her footing on the steps and slipped into the water. She was there with friends, but by the time they noticed she had fallen into the water and people had jumped into the water to pull her out, she had lost her life.

There are a great number of drowning reported on a nearly daily basis, whether in the Yamuna or the various kunds and tanks in the Braj area. Yesterday also, newspapers reported two drownings in Kusum Sarovar. The other day, someone also drowned in Radha Kund. This may be an auspicious way to end one’s life on earth, but authorities should be taking safety matters into consideration when they plan the upgrade and improvement of these holy water tanks.

It seems that with all the work that is being done on restoring kunds in the Braj area by various government and non-government agencies, some thought might be put into devising a safety system whereby the sudden steep descent of steps is reduced, at least in some of the ghats.

Child safety zones could be created where the water is shallower. At the very least, chains could be installed as in many bathing places so that older persons and invalids can bathe with a bit more security.

Unfortunately, Indian children are not given swimming lessons and it seems that they panic easily in the water. And of course, there are no lifeguards.

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