As citizens of a country where rivers like Ganga have given us life, the Ganga's future depends on what we, the readers, do and don't do.
-Bibek Debroy, author and Chairman, Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council
About the Book
Apart from being India’s longest and most revered river, Ganga and her
tributaries traverse eleven states and provide livelihood to nearly 43 per cent
Indians. Despite being so special, Ganga has been getting polluted, with
its ecology and flow endangered. Many initiatives to clean the river ended
up either being hugely inadequate or dismal failures.
The dilemma before the new team of National Mission for Clean Ganga
was not just the enormity of the task, but also having to bear the scar of
past failures. This haunting legacy stayed with them every step of the way
in their long, complex and daunting journey.
So, how do you even begin to think of re-imagining, rejuvenating and
reconnecting with Ma Ganga? From the beginning, the team adopted a
radically different and holistic approach to resolve the ‘wicked problem’
while dealing with multiple stakeholders and their clash of ideas on the
road ahead.
This insider’s account by two change-makers chronicles this long and complex
journey so far transcending the challenges of over abstraction of water,
pollution abatement, bringing behavioural change and making collaborative
partnerships to achieve their goals. More importantly, it brought back some
of the love and respect of the people for its Mother and Goddess.
The authors are categorical that the task is not yet over, much more needs
to be done. However, the successful journey so far, as demonstrated by the
findings of this book, is a testament to the fact that a job well begun is
not just half done, but also provides a road map for the future successes.
About the Authors
Rajiv Ranjan Mishra, an IAS officer of the 1987 batch and IIT Kanpur alumni, virtually changed the discourse on Ganga rejuvenation and its long-term sustenance during his two separate stints at the National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG), first as a Mission Director and then as the Director-General. He expanded the scope of the Mission to include the entire ecosystem of the river, its basin, planning for river cities and the clean-up of its tributaries, and other pollutants that have been defiling the river for centuries.
PUSKAL UPADHYAY is one of the pioneers of the government-led clean-Ganga initiative. A civil engineer-turned-civil servant and finance professional, he worked in NMCG even before the launch of Namami Gange. He played a critical role in developing its building blocks and the famous Hybrid Annuity Model. He is an IDAS officer and alumni of NIT Jamshedpur. He is currently the Financial Advisor in the New Delhi Municipal Council.
Foreword
Books have been written on the Ganga. Eric Newby floated Slowly Down the Ganges. Steven Darian wrote a book on The Ganges in Myth and History. Ganga features prominently in Diana Eck's book on India's sacred geography. There are books by Giulio Di Sturco and Victor Mallet. Ganga fascinates. Ganga is that kind of river. It is not the case that Ganga only fascinates those from the Occident, though that's also a function of the language one has in mind. In the English language, there a book by Sudipta Sen and another, with lovely photographs, by Raghubir Singh. This book by Rajiv Ranjan Mishra and Puskal Upadhyay is the latest addition to the corpus.
The Ganga corpus precedes the evolution of English as a language. There is a beautiful description of Ganga in Valmiki Ramayana. She is the divine river, with three flows in heaven, on earth and the nether regions. Adi Shankaracharya's Ganga stotram is familiar to most Indians, as is the invocation, 'O Ganga, Yamuna, Godavari, Sarasvati, Narmada, Sindhu, Kaveri! Please be present in this water! After the advent of settled agriculture, civilization evolved along the banks and plains of rivers.
Acknowledgements
Inspiration initiates a process; blessings make it happen. For this book, both inspiration and blessings came from Ma Ganga. Getting assigned to this job was a pure chance for both of us. But once initiated, our connection has only become more profound, and the result is the book in your hands.
This book is a product of the collective experience and efforts of the NMCG team. But for their resolve, commitment and work beyond their call of duty, we would have had no story to tell. Each team member and their leaders have made this possible, and so did those in the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change and the Ministry of Jal Shakti. We acknowledge their commitment and zeal to rise to the occasion. We also recognise the leadership of the captains of this team, Mission Director(s) and Director(s) General, who kept them going.
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