The President pulled out of the mammoth show of godman Ravi Shankar to commence on the Yamuna flood plains on Friday, once he appreciated that two important questions were at stake and had embroiled the event in deep controversy: the first relates to the wilful environmental degradation on a massive scale being allowed in order to cater to the “cultural” preferences of some and provide “entertainment” to others; the second question is whether the Indian Army should be drafted to build infrastructural facilities for a private venture.
It is shocking that Ravi Shankar, who exalts himself with a double prefix to his name that suggests that he is higher than ordinary folk in rank and seeks to preach “the art of living” to the well-heeled, has taken leave of moral considerations in inviting lakhs of followers from around the world to a tent city on the river bed and the environs of the Yamuna in Delhi, where the river is thought to be so polluted that it would call for a national effort and national imagination of extraordinary proportions to set matters right, should that day come at all.
Some 1,000 acres of Yamuna land (the stage alone will be a gargantuan seven acres), and possibly more, will have concrete poured into it and steel poles hammered through it. The man who thinks himself a spiritual guru, no less, assures us that he would build a bio-diversity park when it is all over and contribute to saving the environment.
This cannot be anything but a cruel joke in which leading agencies and ministries of the Union government as well as the Delhi state government are complicit. The re-charging capacity of the Yamuna floodplains will be lost for good if concrete is poured into it. After that, the Yamuna may vanish like the mythical Saraswati upon entering Delhi and the concept of the Sangam in Allahabad — where the Yamuna meets the Ganga — will be lost for ever. As for making a biodiversity park, this is not a matter of planting some trees and bushes when we deal with water bodies.
The National Green Tribunal, which considered the issue, also has much to answer for in permitting the grotesqueness of “cultural entertainment” on the Yamuna on condition that the paltry sum of Rs 5 crore is deposited in advance to fix environmental damage. This too is being challenged by the Art of Living, and the powerful godman is defiant and unrepentant. It simply did not occur to the NGT, which is headed by a former judge of the Supreme Court, that there must be something seriously wrong if the Rashtrapati has chosen not to bless the event by attending it. If the PM attends, it will strengthen the irresponsible godman.
