The Economic Times daily newspaper is available online now.

    Netas and locals bow in deference to ‘deity’ Narmada

    Synopsis

    Narmada is like a goddess who is invoked for an auspicious beginning, a means of livelihood and at election time a promise to be made.

    Digvijay-Singh-bccl
    In a few months of CM Chouhan’s yatra, Congress veteran and former CM Digvijaya Singh took his wife on Narmada parikrama, calling it a “spiritual journey”
    As the sun sets on the banks of Narmada at Gwari Ghat in Jabalpur, four priests chant Vedic mantras and perform maha aarti. It starts at 7 pm and a small crowd of people chant along. Omkar Dubey is on the mike chanting. He wraps up the maha aarti with a pledge. The people extend their right arm with Dubey, “I will not dirty this river. I will not throw garbage or plastic in it. Har Har Narmade”. And then a swarm of people sit on the ghats as they put their small lamps made of atta on the river.

    Dubey says the pledge is a six-monthold addition to this purely-religious ceremony. “Even if half the people coming here take the pledge seriously, my religious duties would be fulfilled,” he says as priests distribute halwa as prasad. He chats with people telling them about aarti and ending with “Don’t litter the ghats and throw plastic in the river. It is dying”.

    Malhas on Gwari Ghat say nobody asked Dubey to add this pledge but he did because the river needs to be saved. Narmada is not a river for the people of Madhya Pradesh. It is like a goddess who is invoked for an auspicious beginning, a means of livelihood and at election time a promise to be made. Candidates from across political parties seek votes on planned clean up and more employment opportunities. ET travelled along the river and found how Narmada resonates in life and politics of electionbound Madhya Pradesh.

    THE POLITICS OF THE RIVER
    Chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan started his Narmada Sewa yatra in 2017. It began and ended in Amarkantak, the source of Narmada. Along the way, he planted record number of saplings and announced treatment plants. But it wasn’t a religious or spiritual journey. It was a mass contact programme, striking an instant chord with the electorate who felt involved in the mass plantation drive. A few months later, Congress veteran Digvijaya Singh took his wife on Narmada parikrama, terming it a “spiritual journey”.

    The importance of the river in MP politics was evident with the yatras. Closer to the elections, Narmada figures in both BJP and Congress’ manifestoes. Congress has promised Rs 1,100 crore for the river clean up and BJP has promised increased honorarium to priests and other facilities along the river banks for Narmada parikrama.

    Is Narmada an election issue? The wall paintings along state highways and within the city certainly indicate that. Congress is accusing the BJP government of allowing illegal sand mining in Narmada. On the other hand, the BJP government is seeking continuity for Narmada clean up.

    “BJP has been saying that there are many nullahs (drains) that flow into Narmada ji,” says Manoj Burman, a boatman at Gwari Ghat. “The promise is that they would install STPs (sewage treatment plants) so that the river remains clean. But what were they doing for the last 15 years?” Burman says Congress functionaries have been targeted for stopping trucks carrying sand from the banks.

    AN AUSPICIOUS BEGINNING
    Even before Sanjay Yadav staked claim to a Congress ticket from Bargi assembly constituency, he conducted a yagya on the banks of Narmada and “Savaa crore shivling nirmaan”, a religious exercise that involves making small shivlings out of black soil by the people gathered. “The response to this call was tremendous. We ended up making more—savaa do crore (2,25,00,000) shivling,” he says. He and his constituents saw this as blessing of the river and a much-needed auspicious beginning in a constituency that hasn’t been won by Congress in 15 years.

    Now, a year later, Yadav is seeking votes from Bargi accusing the incumbent BJP MLA Pratibha Singh of illegal sand mining of Narmada. “Our MLA is a bahubali,” says Prateek, a resident of Bargi, adding, “But her son has become a local gunda. He threatens people and the entire family is killing the vibrant river now”.

    A few kilometres away is Bhedaghat, the popular tourist site that boasts of white marble rocks. On the ghats, malhas are talking about river clean up. Rajesh, a boat man who takes tourists around explaining where Kareena Kapoor-Shah Rukh Khan starrer Asoka was shot, says, “So far there is no initiative to clean up the river. We feel the pinch here because the river provides us our livelihood”.

    THE LIFELINE
    In the tribal-dominated villages, the river is worshipped. “Narmade Har”, is the common greeting, especially at dusk. “For tribals ‘jal jungle jameen’ are the three main sources of existence,” says Lachhman Yadav, a tribal in Konta village in Mandla. He and his fellow villagers go fishing in the river. “She provides us livelihood. But now, politicians are gradually killing it. There is no end to sand mining and because there are large pits in the river, the natural flow is affected. Sand is like a natural filter. Since that is gone, the river is getting dirty,” he explains passionately. Neighbouring villages are also protesting against a proposed nuclear plant in the district. It would be on the river and they would stop fishing 10 km upstream and downstream.


    (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel)
    (Catch all the Business News, Breaking News, Budget 2024 News, Budget 2024 Live Coverage, Events and Latest News Updates on The Economic Times.)

    Download The Economic Times News App to get Daily Market Updates & Live Business News.

    Subscribe to The Economic Times Prime and read the ET ePaper online.

    ...more
    The Economic Times

    Stories you might be interested in