Waterkeepers India
Dilla Devi’s community was
destroyed by the Tehri Dam in the foothills of the Himalayas, which
traps the headwaters of the Ganges flowing off the Gangorti Glacier.
The Waterkeeper Alliance delegation visited the site where the dam
inundated a formerly productive agricultural region and vanquished
traditional lifestyles as some 175,000 people were exiled to urban
centers. Local women have joined forces to take action to reclaim the
quality of their lives.
The Ganges and Yamuna rivers, both considered feminine deities in Hindu
mythology, embrace India’s fertile Gangetic Plain. In cities like
Delhi, Agra and Varanasi millions live without sewage infrastructure
or access to potable water. All this ensures that as India enters the
world stage as a dominant economic force, she will not side-step the
environmental degradation historically linked to the rise of other economic
powers. Indian rivers already are some of the world’s most polluted.
In November, Waterkeepers from across North America visited the newly
formed Waterkeepers India to share experiences and attend the International
Living Rivers Conference in New Delhi. Dr. Vandana Shiva, a former nuclear
physicist now spearheading Riverkeeper programs in India, asks, “Why
must India’s future be America’s past?” She urges a
smarter kind of development that involves harvesting rainwater; employing
sustainable agricultural practices; and empowering communities to fight
for their right to clean water.
Ninety-four new dams and river obstructions are slated for construction
by the Indian government, including a plan to dam the Tsangpo, a tributary
of the great Brahmaputra River, which issues from the Tibetan plateau
and courses through Bhutan before entering Arunachal Pradesh where indigenous
people untouched by modernity exist. Waterkeepers India is a growing
movement, strongly rooted in Indian communities that will fight this
plan and fight for clean water.
“When
we see the lake, we see only sorrow.”