What Sri Sri did to Yamuna is why India's seeing environmental disasters

When spiritual guru Sri Sri Ravi Shankar announced that 3.5 million people were about to descend on the banks of Yamuna to celebrate culture as part of the 35th Art of Living anniversary, I knew I could look forward to endless traffic jams. That, however, turned out to be the least of my problems, given that the project has far-reaching ramifications on our environment.

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First, the heavy construction activity taken up to set up the world's largest stage spanning about 2.83ha has led to potentially irreversible damage to the ecologically sensitive tract of land flanked by the Delhi-Noida Toll Bridge on one side and the Yamuna on the other. While the National Green Tribunal (NGT) had issued direct orders regarding the revitalisation and conservation of the Yamuna, the festival's construction activity clearly violated the NGT's orders.

Destruction

The indiscriminate destruction of the natural ecosystem that existed on the floodplains across 60ha on the western side of the river has led to a major imbalance. Weeds and trees were dug up to create a flat tract of land for construction and, as a result, several migratory birds and other marine life were displaced, from the area, some even killed. The pontoon bridges, mobile toilets and parking sites too have left a fairly large impact on the Yamuna plain.

As we have seen in Jammu & Kashmir, Uttarakhand and most recently Chennai, where the natural environment was tampered with and the vegetation endemic to the area was indiscriminately removed, the consequences were quite devastating. The removal of plant life always hinders the capacity of the floodplain to contain the river during the flood time.

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While the scale of destruction witnessed in these states has been catastrophic, we do not know the full effects of the damage done to the Yamuna floodplain and only time will tell. Besides, one cannot take a risk given that the area around it is quite heavily populated and the toll bridge runs past it.

Moreover, Sri Sri himself had gone on record several times stating that we should be preserving the sacred rivers of our country, hence his blatant flouting of the law on this issue came as a shock to many, including some of his followers.

However, voices of dissent have a way of getting drowned out and the festival took place irrespective of the protests and warnings.

Festival

Despite all the red flags raised on this issue, Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and Prime Minister Narendra Modi were both soft peddling on the issue because the festival was hosted by a spiritual guru whose following was formidable.

While Modi endorsed the festival by his attendance, Kejriwal was seen holding out an olive branch after the NGT slapped the Art of Living guru with Rs 5 crore worth fine, which he initially refused to pay.

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Perhaps the environmental threat posed by this festival is not eminent enough for them to take hard measures, but if one were to go by reports submitted by green organisations such as Down to Earth and the NGT, it is a fact that the biodiversity of the Yamuna and other river areas in the country is under serious threat. We need to treat the matter seriously, or our country well might be on the edge of natural disaster.

No doubt, Kejriwal has urged the guru to be part of the rejuvenation project and perhaps cajoling tactics may work better than fines, but it is imperative that action is taken to clean the floodplain of all the debris left in the aftermath of the festival. Dedicated projects now need to be undertaken to renew the flora and fauna of the area before the next monsoon.

Environment

The festival is but a microcosm of what is done to the environment in the name of culture and religion across the nation; whether it is the dumping of toxic non-biodegradable statues in the river during visarjan (procession) or the plastic bags containing flowers that are ritually dumped in the rivers during puja. There is a reason why the idols and lamps were made of clay in the past.

Why flowers were placed within vessels made of leaves - they are all biodegradable and do not cause any harm to the environment. Our forefathers clearly knew how to tread the delicate balance of man and environment and we need to follow their example.

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Banning plastic in religious festivals is one way out. All citizens across India need to take responsibility for their actions. While controlling the indiscriminate building that greedy builders undertake in environmentally sensitive areas may be hard for the average citizen to do, planting a tree or shrubs on the Yamuna banks is not difficult.

(Courtesy of Mail Today.)