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14FEB2015,12:32:28AM|OWD

ByTheTimeTheyreDone,BanarasWillBeDead
VishwambharNathMishra,whoteacheselectronicsatBHU,explainswhyheisopposingplansto
convertVaranasiintoanotherKyoto.
PRAGYASINGHINTERVIEWSVISHWAMBHARNATHMISHRA

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FrompraisingNarendraModiintherunuptothe2014generalelectiontopubliclycriticising WithFinalTouchestoCMP
ALSOINTHISSTORY

hisvauntedGangaSutranow,VishwambharNathMishra,whoteacheselectronicsatBHU
andisalsothehighpriestoftheSankatMochanTemple,hascomefullcircle.Inachatwith
PragyaSingh,heexplainswhyheisopposingplanstoconvertVaranasiintoanotherKyoto:
WhyareyouopposedtothecentralgovernmentsplansforVaranasi?

TotalkaboutturningVaranasiintoKyoto,totalkofmakingitaheritagecity,istobetray
completeignoranceofwhatBanarasneedsanddoesntneed.Whyredefinelivingheritage,
whichisBanaras,asacreated,artificialheritagecity?Banarashasalwaysbeenaspiritual
centre.Youarealsoloweringitsstandardifyoucallit[just]areligiouscentre.Ourideahas
alwaysbeentodevelopthecitybylettingthenewevolveandlettinggooftheoldwhen
needed.Itsadynamicprocessthatcantbeachievedthroughdemolitions.

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WhyareVaranasipeoplewaryofdemolitions?
WehaveseenwhathappenedwhentheboundaryconditionsofKashiVishwanathtemplewere
setsothattheordinarypilgrimcouldnotevenaccessiteasily.Hisslippersandother
belongingsweretakenoffatonegateandhemadehisexitthroughanothergate,faraway.
Tellme,whatkindofsecurityisthis?Howisyoursystemintunewiththeecosystemofthis
place?Idontseewhyanygovernmentofauthorityshouldspeakofsellingoracquiringthe
landorbuildingsofthoselivingaroundthattemple.ButnobodyinBanarasseemstobe
speakingoutagainstallthis.Ifthey[Banarasis]arewary,itisbecausetheyknowthatthe
narrowlanesandthecrowdsarepartofitsbeauty.Whatdothedemolitionsquadswantto
achieveanopenfieldwherethereoncewasanancientcity?HereiswhatIbelieve:Thereis
noquestionofcomplainingaboutcrowdsinVaranasi,oritsnarrowstreets.Ourbeliefisthat
everybodywhocomestothistowncomesherethankstoShiva'sgrace,andstayswithhis
gracetoo.Thenhowcanonebeforcedoutofoneshomehere?
Buttheyseemtobemakingdevelopmentplansforthecity...
No,theywanttobringthemallculturehere.Ihaveabsoluteclarityhere:Withoutaclean
Gangatherecannotbeanydevelopmentofthiscity.CoreBanarasneedstobepreserved,it
alsoneedstoberenewedandmaintained.Youcannotabruptlychangetheoldpartsofthe
city.Herewehaveanancientcultureinitslivingform.Iwanttoemphasizeonthefragilityof

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2/25/2015

ByTheTimeTheyreDone,BanarasWillBeDead|PragyaSingh

thishere.BanarasislikeaboxwithasignthatsaysHandleWithCare.Infactthemall
culturewillnotevensuitBanaras.Theambienceofthisplacewillrejectit.
WhatisyourproposalforacleanGangaandVaranasisdevelopmentaroundthatidea?
Afteraseriesoftwistsandturnsoverdecades,itturnedoutthatthecentralpollutioncontrol
boardhasdesignatedBanarasasaClassBtown,withdesignatedindustriesandeffluents
[allowedtodischargeeffluents]ofthatlevel.Now,Iwanttoonlyaddthatthepollutioninthis
wateroftheGangacannotbeanythinglessthanwhatisrequiredofaholyriver.TheFecal
Coliform[bacteria]shouldbeatzero.Thatistheonlywayinwhichtheriversprescribedrole
inthescripturescanbefulfilled.Imeanthatvisiting,touching,consuming,tobathe,all
requiredritualsmustbepossible.Basically,thatswhenthecultureofBanaraswillevolve
aroundtheriver,asitwasmeantto.TheCPCBwillhavetotakeintoaccountthattheriveris
alivingdeityandplanaccordingly.
Andhowistheriversconditiontoday?
Itsconditionissuchthatitcannotsustaineitheraquaticlifenorisitsuitedforanyotherritual
purpose,upstreamordownstream,inBanaras.Downstream,attheconfluenceofVarunaand
Ganga,thefecalcoliformlevelisbetween1and1.5millionmgwhenitshouldbebelow500
mgtosustainaquaticlife,alongwith[meeting]otherconditions.Itisaround50000mgat
upstreamGhats.Nowtellme,whatisthemeaningofbuildingshoppingmallsbybreaking
downheritagestructuresordemolishingtheoddunauthorizedconstruction,inthiscontext?
Theriverwaterhadturnedsepticandthepoliticiansarespreadingamyth,anillusion,oflocal
springcleaning.ThewholeoftheGangaispollutedandwhereverthereisamajorsewerage
systemalongtherivertheconditionsareacute.Whatthecityneeds,alongwithallothers
alongthisriver,isamodernseweragesystem.
Andwhyisntthishappeningwhiletheresmuchtalkofotherdevelopments?
Yousee,theriversstateisadiagnosedcondition.Onthisnobodycanarguewithus.Now
they[referringtotheBJPandwaterresourcesministerUmaBharti]cangetangry,theycan
screamandshout,buttheyarestillonlytalkingaboutdoingcosmeticsurgery.WithoutGanga,
ifyoutalkaboutdevelopmentofBanarasthenIrejectit,Ihavenothingtodowithit.Fortyto
sixtythousandpeoplebathedailyinthesewaters.Thosepeoplewhodothisarethecarriersof
thelivingtraditionthatthiscityrepresents,notdemolitionsquads.

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WhatisyoursuggestiontoModiandthegovernment?
TheymustnotmakemoneyaconsiderationincleaningtheGanga.Inthatspirittheymustget
downtoGangacleaning.Yousee,itislikeacellophanetapewounduparounditself.You
reallycannottellwherethelastbitis,whichyoucanliftupandstartpullingthetapeyouneed.
Similarly,theGangassituationissocomplexthatonecannotdetermineeasilywheretobegin
cleaning.Butexactlyateverypointyouarestuckat,sciencehasalreadygivenyousomany
answers:Youknowthatthesewagetreatmentplantneedstogetgoing.Youknowthatthe
technologyusedinthecurrentone,whileitprocessesonly100MLDofthe400MLD
generateddaily,isineffectiveagainstColiform.So,youknowyouneednewplantsandpost
treatmentplantsandthatthewaterpurifiedtodifferentdegreescanbeusedforvarious
purposes:Agriculture,fishfarms,bymunicipalbodiesandsoon.Whatisthepointofholding
ontojunkyardliketreatmentplantsthatdontwork?

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Soyoudontsupportotherplans,likethemetro?
Look,ifalltheprojectsthatarebeingannouncedforBanarasarelaunched,themetro,
monorail,highways,ringroads,andsoon,consideringmostofthemaresupposedlytorun
fromLanka[BHU]toSarnath,bythetimetheygetdoneBanaraswillbedead.Whattheymust
doisdefineagreenbelt,builddrainagesystemsinvillagesthiswillatleastendtheconstant
squabblesoverwatersystemsinruralBanaras.Theymustdeclarenonewconstructionswill
takeplaceincertainareasbutbeforehand,notretrospectively.Nowtheyareorganizing
SubahBanarastypeofculturalevents,butthepointofsucheventsistocelebrateandenjoy
thesunriseofthiscitybytheriver.Ifyoubuildatenstoreybuildingalongtheriver,thenyou
wontseeasunrise,youllseethebuilding.
Thenyou[BJP]bringinanordinancetoacquireland.Ifthiswillnotdestroythealready
stringentlawwhichwasmeanttoprotectpeoplewhoneededsuchprotection,thentellme,
whatwill?Whattheyareproposingiscommonplaceexploitationratherthandevelopment.
Whataboutdredgingtherivertoraiseitswaterlevel?Thatwillencouragerevenuefrom
theriverandnobodyloses.
IwasatarecentmeetinginDelhiwheremanyincludingunionministerGadkariwerepresent,
wherealltheseplanswerebeingchalkedout.Thefactisthattheirfocusisalloncruisesand
ferriesandtransportationoffuelforelectricityandthingslikethat.Theyalsodiscussed
dredgingtheriverfromHaldeatoAllahabad,tomaketheriver45meterswideand5meters
deep.Thelargergoalhereistoinstall,atevery100km,abarrage.Thisisabsolutely
unacceptablebecausefromalivingriveryouwillturntheGangaintoaseriesof16ponds
filledwithsewage.Lookattheirprioritiesfromthewaythemoneyhasbeenallocated:Uma
Bhartihasgot,forNamamiGanga,Rs.2037crore.AnddredgingwillgetRs4,300crore.So,
whereisthepriority,transportingcoalandbuildingbarragesorcleaningtheriver?
IsntittooearlytostartcriticisingtheModigovernmentonperformance?
Theythemselvessaythattheyaremakingefforts,allwearesayingis,whyarentyou
implementinganyofthoseefforts?Nothinghascomehereintermsofactualresources.Itis
78months,kuchtohshuruhonachahiye...someworkmustatleastbegin.UmaBhartisays,
afterfourmonthsofholdingcharge,that5000formersoldierswillguardtheGanga.Tellme,
aretheygoingtodrinkthe400MLDwastegenerateddailyorshootanyonewhobathesinthe
water?Intheendtheywillhavetofindanengineeringsolutiontotheriverspollution.Justby
gettingangryathearingthisisnotgoingtostopthis:Anengineeringsolutionwillhavetobe
found,andthisfactnobodycanchange.

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ByTheTimeTheyreDone,BanarasWillBeDead|PragyaSingh

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Banarasistakefilthforgranted,itsModisgrandplanstheyfear
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