Keeping up with UP: Time for the public to lead environmental campaigns

Hindustan Times

04-06-2025

The editor of a vernacular daily in Lucknow had published a page 1 report in the 1980s on ' Water Riots Soon.' None took it seriously in the government while a few journalists even mocked the analytical report.
Almost three decades later as groundwater levels fall, his prophecy may become reality. Already, disturbing videos of parched fields coupled with brawls over a can of water have started to emerge from Uttar Pradesh (UP) and different parts of the country.
VK Joshi, who retired from Geological Survey of India, has relentlessly advocated water conservation. He explained: 'People must understand the impending danger of water shortage. Groundwater is like a bank account from which water is being withdrawn without adding a drop. The crisis is bad for even water rich Ganga-Gomti plains as all the recharge areas have been concretised.'
Venkatesh Dutta, who is heading the department of environmental science at Ambedkar University, is known as 'Waterman' because of his focus on saving rivers and water bodies. He said: 'Real estate is taking prominence over waterscapes and cities are eating up the remaining fragments of natural streams, rivers, floodplains and wetlands. There is no holistic regulation from the land revenue department. And then encroachment is rampant while groundwater abstraction is much more than the annual recharge, reuse still not done on a desired scale.'
To those unable to fathom the pace at which the problem is progressing, here is an example.
'As visible in the satellite pictures, Lucknow in the early 1970's used to have a number of rivers as a large stream of networks were connected with the Gomti. There were big ponds, sometimes more than 100 hectares , holding water through the year. However, in recent satellite pictures, many of the rivers and the ponds have disappeared due to development of roads and colonies etc. Can you imagine eight rivers flowing through Lucknow besides Gomti,' Dutta said.
Lucknow needs roads, housing and offices. But Dutta suggested planners should not transform rivers into an amenity for humans to use: rather the goal should be to protect the ecological integrity, improve the health of the ecosystem and enhance natural biodiversity, which would improve the quality of life of people.
The government's priorities shift but what about the public? Campaigns are for the people and their future generations who are at grave risk of facing challenging times. Are we talking about it at home, schools and gram panchayats? What happened to our campaigns to save water like making every drop of water count, which included initiatives like fixing leaks and dripping taps, using water efficient fixtures and turning taps off while, say, brushing teeth.
Come June 5, the public discourse of the day will be drowned in seminars and speeches. Tree plantation drives will follow. But the seriousness or rather impending danger to human lives demand daily celebration of Environment Day, which should be driven by the public as it does not figure prominently in poll agendas of political parties.
The people have done it in the past – water conservation, car- pooling, tree plantation and plastic ban and can be revived without waiting for a particular day to celebrate the environment. There are people who are working for the cause at an individual level. I will mention a few here.
Prabhat Mishra had started the 'Red Tape' movement on June 5, 2008 to save trees and biodiversity and has by now covered 100 villages in Etawah and 10,000 schools and over 30 colleges in the region. During the campaign, which encourages community participation, the villagers plant trees in a village on a specified date and tie red tape around the existing ones. This year, he is developing an antivirus park in a Firozabad school.
Indore based Priyanshu Kamath, an IITian, describes himself as a 'waterpreneur' undertaking water body restoration projects using nature-based products. He is a recipient of the water hero award by the central Jal Shakti ministry.
Qamar Rehman, distinguished professor, recalled how the air used to be crisp, water clean while the world today is laden with fossil fuel and biofuel. And there are several man-made causes like deforestation, mining, explosion, war and transport besides natural hazards.
Rehman emphasised on the toxicity of plastics, particularly microplastics and chemicals used in their production. Why can't we stop the use of plastics even if the government has not completely banned it. Production depends on consumption. She quoted Albert Einstein who had once said, 'Technological progress is like an axe in the hands of a pathological criminal.'
Are we willing to save ourselves or wait for the government to act? The success of government schemes depends on public participation. We are heading for an unbearably warmer planet with scarce water, harsh sun. Even to live in ultra-modern India, we need to save our natural resources.