VIEWPOINT
AMITABH SHUKLA
The last I went to Varanasi
or Kashi was a little over a year ago when it was not yet the parliamentary
constituency of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. I go there again and again for
one simple reason — getting overawed and mesmerised by the feeling of
religiosity all around and to see the faith which the common devotees have for
Lord Shiva and his city unfold in myriad hues.
My conviction in Sanatan Dharma
and in the cycle of life and death grows stronger whenever I watch the evening
ghats of the ancient city from a boat in the middle of the Ganga — preparation
for the grand evening aarti at Dashashwamedh Ghat and the rituals of cremation
after death at the Mani Karnika Ghat, both on the same side of the holy Ganges.
That was my fourth visit to Benares ,
the name I prefer for the holy city where I enjoy every moment, watching the
pilgrims and soaking in their faith, watching stray cattle harmlessly roaming
on the streets and looking at ancient traces in a rapidly growing modern city.
In fact, becoming a part of the crowd and doing what they do gives immense
pleasure and you never feel out of place anywhere, whether at the temples,
ghats, monuments in and around the city or the numerous bazaars all around.
However, despite all this
diversity and religiosity all around, what is striking here is the litter and
filth all over the place, even near the ghats, temples and frankly everywhere.
Stray cattle roam on the popular Dashashwamedh Ghat right down to the steep
steps leading to the Ganga . There was cow dung all
around and the stench of cow urine enveloped the ghat. Like Millions of Hindus
in this country, I too consider cow a sacred animal but I could not and did not
want to sit on the ghat in the daytime as the stench from cowdung and urine was
overbearing.
Of course, Ganga
in Benares was suffering due to the manmade crisis also.
The river was extremely polluted, there was hardly any flow in the month of
March and the riverbank was full of garbage thrown in the still waters. All
types of used puja material, stale flower and leaves, was thrown carelessly in
the river even as boats of all hues made it a sort of parking mess in the Ganga
and there was utter chaos all around. This diluted the feeling which one had
towards the city and the river to some extent. The realisation soon dawned that
the entire chaos, litter, garbage and pollution was manmade and if one started
with a zeal, there wouldn’t be a holy city like Benares in the entire world.
Much water had flown down the
Dashashwamedh and Mani Karnika Ghat since then. Narendra Modi is not only the
MP from the holy city but also the Prime Minister of the country and most
importantly, he has taken a pledge for Swachchh Bharat. Modi was also on a
two-day visit to his parliamentary constituency, which was his first after the
thanksgiving visit soon after the victory in the Lok Sabha polls in May.
I have not been to Benares
after Modi won in the Lok Sabha polls. But due to sheer curiosity, I called an
acquaintance who is a regular visitor to the city to find out if any changes
had taken places after the results of the general elections. At least my
acquaintance did not find any except that the people were talking about
Swachchh Bharat campaign though it was hardly being implemented on the ground
in the city. He talked about some NGOs running cleanliness campaign near the
popular ghats but hasn’t yet noticed a permanent solution.
It will be in fitness of things
if I write on cleanliness on the ghats and in and around the temples only after
a visit to Benares . I will do that soon. But surely as
an avid lover of whatever Benares represents — the culture, the continuity,
religion and spirituality — there could be a few suggestions thrown in due to
my experience of four visits in the city, considered older than civilisation
itself in mythology.
Modi often talks about the Narmada
riverfront in Ahmedabad in his speeches and in fact, all those who have been
there, have a word of appreciation in the way it has been transformed. People
in Benares are waiting for a similar transformation.
Why can’t corporate houses take
over the maintenance and cleanliness of the ghats? They can put up their
signboards and even advertisements free of cost if they provide funds,
manpower, energy and ideas for the purpose. I don’t see any reason why they
shouldn’t given that it is the constituency of the Prime Minister and it would
be beneficial to be in his good books.
Also, the kind of footfall Benares and its ghats
has, the message would spread far and wide that so and so corporate house is
supporting the project and it is sure to build the brand value of their product
and further strengthen it. Several NGOs, banks etc have come forward to clean
the ghats but no one is yet thinking of finding a permanent solution —building
a corpus and a vision for the next 10-20 years to start with.
Then you have the problem of
stray cattle, flooding the streets of Benares . To me the
solution is simple. Build enough cowsheds in and around Benares
either through Central funds or rope in NGOs, charitable organisations or
corporate houses. Manage these cowsheds well, get all the stray cattle here and
see the result on cleanliness of Benares . I am sure,
once the stray cattle go to the cowsheds from the narrow streets, a lot of
problem of cleanliness would automatically be taken care of. I have seen
efficient, well-managed cowsheds in Chandigarh
and other places. People line up to feed the bovines for religious reasons;
they get enough donations and are generally self-sufficient. The model can be
replicated in Benares easily and there is no rocket
science involved here. You only require an administrative acumen to do this and
appointment of a good officer would easily take care of that.
Cleaning of river Ganga
is, of course, a multi-pronged and time-consuming exercise as there are several
culprits. Too many people and industries are guilty here, there are multiple
agencies involved and the geographical area spreading pollution is wide — from Hardwar
to Kanpur and then Allahabad
to Benares . Build sewage treatment plants wherever
feasible, fine and punish those who are releasing toxic waste and poison in the
holy river, get experts on board to find ways and means to increase the water
flow... Get all the stakeholders on a common platform, form a committee, look
for the problem and solution in the same meeting. Make it Mission Mode,
target-oriented with single-minded purpose of making Ganga
clean.
Another aspect which the Prime
Minister can look into is to make the visit of the lakhs and crores of pilgrims
from all over the country more comfortable. During my last visit, I found each
and every inch of space in the railway station compound occupied by the
pilgrims, speaking all languages of the country. It was practically impossible
even to walk on the railway platforms and the huge railway compound in the
evening hours. The situation was similar in practically all the vacant public
space in the city like the bus stands.
I hope the Government will look
into the modalities of constructing mega halls and hygienic open spaces with
clean toilets to facilitate the poor pilgrims of the country. If the Government
cannot do it on its own, rope in whoever is needed, provide land and
infrastructure and get this done. Whoever takes the initiative and does this
will never be short of blessings of the poor pilgrims.
I am sure Modi must be looking at
all these issues and much more. He wielded the broom when he launched the
Swachchh Bharat campaign and now the spade during his two-day Benares
visit. He perhaps realises that through symbolism you can create a consciousness
about cleanliness in the psyché of an individual.
There is a plan to infuse a
massive funding for the facelift of the city and it may be launched by the end
of the year. But for me, the success of the plan would be when I don’t see any
filth and garbage on the ghats, there is illumination on the riverbank, the
stray cattle live peacefully in cowsheds and the traffic in the city becomes
orderly during my next visit.
I also want to see better flow in
the still waters of the Ganga , development of the eastern
banks of the holy river and aquatic life back in the water during my next
visit. Hundreds of millions of Indians like me who have faith in Benares ,
Sanatan Dharma and Indian civilisation would cherish that day. (November 10, 2014 )
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