This International Day of Action for Rivers, which is observed on 14 March, we revisit the stories done on Village Square to bring attention to the rivers facing risks, and what’s being done to conserve them.
Rivers, a primary source of freshwater, play a huge role in sustaining lives on the planet. From providing water and hydropower to holding immense cultural significance, they enrich our lives in countless ways. However, the rising levels of pollution and global warming are putting the rivers at risk with a plethora of challenges, including contamination of water and increased frequency and intensity of both droughts and floods. This poses a threat not only to the ecosystems that surround the river but also to the communities that depend on them. While community initiatives in several areas are helping restore the rivers there, the situation continues to be dire at many other places.
In Assam’s Lakhimpur, residents of the Kalakhowa village dread the onset of the monsoon, as severe rains often stoke the rage of the Subansiri river. The water level rises and causes flooding in the area, submerging the lands and homes of many. Even flood-proof houses built on raised bamboo platforms, locally called chang ghar are rendered ineffective because of the increased flooding of the Subansiri year after year.
Meanwhile, Punjab witnessed the wrath of the Sutlej in the monsoon of 2023. A torrential downpour led to river water flooding farms and fields. With no means to drain the excess floodwater, farmers watched their laboriously nurtured crops submerge underwater as their fields remained inundated. This tragic monsoon also displaced hundreds of homes and claimed the lives of over 40 people.
Meghal is a small river in Junagadh district of Gujarat which rises in the Sasan Hills and flows into the Arabian Sea. Its 54 riparian villages suffered from a severe water crisis for three consecutive years due to the droughts in the mid-1980s. Immediate efforts were made to recharge groundwater levels as soon as the droughts eased. However, most of the solutions only provided temporary relief. Determined to fix this, the persistent villagers joined hands to build new water harvesting structures and repair existing ones. With the help of a team from the Aga Khan Rural Support Programme-India, the community has managed to build 284 water harvesting structures and repair the rest to bring the total to over 1,200 check dams and other structures (including boribunds, percolation tanks and recharge wells) on the 30 km stretch of the Meghal river and its tributary streams. Having achieved near-complete capture of precipitation, adequate groundwater recharge, and coordinated and equitable water use, the revival of the Meghal river has proved that a proactive and mobilised community and some technological interventions can do wonders to aid even the grimmest weather-stressed regions.
Mizoram’s Chite Lui River faces the danger of turning into a dumping ground as its water levels fall and pollution levels rise. Chite Lui is beyond just a water body for the people of Mizoram as it holds immense sentimental value for them. However, unplanned urbanisation and other human activities have converted the river into a contaminated water body. Zoram Research Foundation, a non-profit organisation working for traditional water management in Mizoram, has gathered a mass of volunteers over the years to clean and save the Chite Lui river. Upon periodic campaigns to clean the river banks, it was found that 80 percent of the waste comprised plastic which was enough to build a plastic road in the state. Although citizens have come together to save the river, they demand government intervention to amplify this campaign of reviving not just Chite Lui but also the other polluted rivers of Mizoram.
Combating water pollution can start with small changes in everyday habits, according to Shri Krishna, the Chief Admin Manager at Environmentalist Foundation of India.
“Besides industrial waste, our everyday consumption habits, like use of shampoos, soaps and other chemicals, also contribute immensely to water pollution,” says Krishna. “We need to look back at our ancestors for answers. By switching to alternate homemade remedies for soap, toothpaste and shampoo we can do a lot of good to the rivers.”
The lead image at the top shows the confluence of Indus and Zanskar rivers at Nimmu in Ladakh. (Photo by Sundeep bhardwaj, via Wikimedia Commons)
