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Words
from our guests
H'ble
Chief Minister, Madhya Pradesh, Shri Shivraj Singh Chouhan while
inauguration said "One should harness the natural resources, instead
of exploiting them". The Government alone can never conserve the
rivers, participation of the people is equally important. He claimed
that the root of every problem lies in nature's indiscriminative
exploitation. "Globle warming is the greatest concern and the
only way to tackle it is by the sentiment of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam.
Shri
Amritlal Vegad, President Narmada Samagra, Writer and Painter, said
"The Narmada is not a glacier
fed river, She gets water from trees. Therefore dense forestation
along her banks is a must." The man got culture, civilization
& electricity from rivers but in return he gave bacteria &
viruses to rivers. Chemical effluents coming out of factories are
dangerous for the rivers.
Shri
Anil Madhav Dave, Environmentalist & Member of Parliament, Secretary
Narmada Samagra, said - It would be enough if we could stop ourselves
from polluting the rivers. In the past 63 years huge amount of money
and efforts were consumed by the community and the government for
taking water from the rivers, but not even 1 % of it has been used
to keep the river's ecological system healthy. He also announced
that several villages along the Narmada banks lacks in adequate
medical facilities leading to major problems for the common people.
This coupled with the fact that there is no proper road connectivity
for these villages, the people endure long and tedious journey to
reach the first point of proper health care. With an aim to address
this issue, Narmada Samagra would start a unique initiative by way
of a river ambulance to specially cater to the scores of tribals
living along the reservoirs of Bargi, Indira Sagar and Sardar Sarovar
dams, The river ambulance would be a made-to-order hovercraft -
a rubberized mechanized boat, which operates both on water and land/sand
- that would have a doctor and para-medics apart from the support
staff and all necessary machines.
Forest
Minister Shri Sartaj Singh said that to check pollution of rivers
ensure development, government rules must be relaxed. Minister said
large portion of the Narmada River flows through revenue generating
area. Several plant species along with the bamboos can be planted
and several people can be involved in plantation by offering the
land on lease for 10-15 years.
During
this three day session Gandhian Radhaben Bhatt has also drawn attention
towards drying of small rivers across the country, a phenomenon
she described as "alarming". "But not just the smaller rivers in
plain areas but those in the Himalayan region are also drying up
fast. This is an alarming situation," Bhat, the chairperson of Narmada
Samagra said Apart from drying of small rivers, the veteran Gandhian
also drew attention of the illegal mining of sand from rivers, be
it in Uttarakhand, her home state or be it in Narmada. Both the
society and the media have to speak about it loud and clear, she
asserted. She also called the term "natural resources" a misnomer,
one that was inserted by the planners several decades ago. "This
is wrong definition. The term should actually be 'natural heritage',"
she pointed out. Another dangerous trend going on in our country
is the sale of land and forests. "They are building roads on land
after wiping out forests. The land which grows paddy is being sold
to manufacture cars," she said adding, "Vikas ke saath vivek bhi
jaroori hai (Development cannot be done without proper logic)."
Ms.
Jaya Mitra, Renowned Bengali Writer and Environmental activist,
West Bengal, said - It is important to sensitize the community towards
river conservation. Each individual should be emotionally involved
in the efforts. It is necessary to develop social, technical, scientific
and emotional vision to work on the rivers.
Dr
Subodh Sharma from Kathmandu University, Nepal said 40 per cent
of the problems of the Himalayan rivers is due to mixing of human
excreta. "We carried out a study of 150 Himalayan rivers over a
dozen years and the results were most shocking. While 40 per cent
problem was due to human waste, almost 60 per cent problem is due
to building of dams," Sharma, a Fullbright Scholar, said. The climate
change is most visible in the mountains and the glaciers are rifting
apart faster than ever
.
Dr
H M Desarda, an expert in watershed development and management said
there is a need to change the definition of "development." "We need
to preserve this atmosphere, ecology … there is no alternative atmosphere,"
he said adding, "For this, nothing can be done with a commission,
instead what is needed is a mission."
Dr
Ulrich Berk from Germany also spoke on the occasion. He told the
gathering about the ancient Vedic tradition of Homa Therapy conducted
through Agnihotra (yagya) at sunrise and sunset for cleansing of
the atmosphere.
Dr.
Kjell Nilssen, Professor, NTNU, Norway. said "Rivers and biodiversity
are the perfect indicators of the health of a nation." Big
dams on rivers have drastic effects on the river ecology.
Dr.
Michael Barbour, Director Tetratech, USA, The Rivers have their
own ecological respiratory system. It is necessary to work on river
systems, to protect the river from pollution.
Mrs.
Jaya Bachchan Member of Parliament ,Rajya Sabha. offered to convince
her husband (Amitabh Bachchan) voice telling the Narmada story.
helping Narmada Samagra for raising awareness about the condition
of the river. so don't be surprised if in near future you get to
listen to Bollywood star Amitabh Bachchan voice telling the Narmada
story. " Describing her fond memories of hills and lakes associated
with Bhopal, Jaya Bachchan rued the place has changed beyond recognition.
"First we tamper with the environment, exhaust all our water and
then, search water on the moon," she pointed out.
Union
Minister of State for Heavy Industries, Shri Arun Yadav stressed
the need of paradigm change in industrial policies as heavy industries
are imperative for development. "What is happening today is that
industrial effluents are polluting the rivers, instead, the ideal
situation is when no industrial waste goes untreated into the river,"
he said adding, "It is our moral responsibility that we aim for
development without losing sight of our natural heritage."
Madhya
Pradesh Minister for Mining Shri Rajendra Shukla warned that the
next generation would have to bear the fruits of our neglect towards
environment. "The natural resources can be a boon for us only when
we care for the forests, rivers and hills today."
Shri
Uday Pratap Singh, Member of Parliament, Hoshangabad concluded "In
India we regard the rivers as our Mother Figure, Taking care of
health of the mother is the prime duty of her children. If we cannot
keep our mother healthy, our family cannot live in prosperity".
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IRF
2010 Declaration
We commit ourselves
to:
Bhopal : For the first time in Madhya Pradesh, women having bath in the Narmada at Sethani Ghat, Hoshangabad have the facility of makeshift change-rooms on the ghat. Member of Parliament Anil Madhav Dave dedicated to people some makeshift change rooms on the ghat on 7 Nov. 2010.
