A river seems a magic thing. Magic, moving, living part of the very earth itself. – Laura Gilpin
And that is as true as truth can get… Rivers are the lifeblood of our planet, just like the blood in our veins. When they dry up or are diverted, so do we – our own history is replete with such examples from the Mohenjo-Daro civilization to the legendary Saraswathi River.
But legends do not die, they survive despite the harassment and challenges they go through – from pollution to diversion – that is why they are called legends. For us, our legends are the 7 rivers and their tributaries that make up the river system of India Indus, Brahmaputra, Narmada, Tapti, Godavari, Krishna, and the Mahanadi.
Watching them flow, watching them gush at their dams, make us gush with pride and love; because they provide us and the earth’s fauna, with both food (indirectly via irrigation and directly via fish and sea plants) and water (directly) to drink – without which, we won’t survive, and neither will the planet – it will be another Mars. Then there is the energy they produce, their ability to act as a means of transportation and of course as a source of leisure and exercise. All in all, they are a natural, renewable, earth and people nutrient that is critical to our survival, much like oxygen. They are even expected to wash away our sins!
And yet we pollute them with our effluents, our pesticides, and our waste – both solid and liquid, in the hope that the river will absorb them and make them clean again – like our other sins. Maybe they will if it’s not too much, but what about the fish and the sea plants – can they survive it? Very unlikely. If we cannot, how can they?
And so, we celebrate World Rivers Day to remind ourselves of their significance in our lives. World Rivers Day 2020 is observed annually on the last Sunday of September. This year the day falls on the 27th September 2020. World Rivers Day (a proposal by renowned river advocate Mark Angelo) aims to strive to increase public awareness and encourages the improved stewardship of all rivers around the world.
What must we do? Ok, let’s celebrate the day with fanfare. As a part of the celebration, we could join teams working to clean rivers or pick litter, go kayaking, sailing, or canoeing and conduct awareness events.
But what else? Let us leave the activism to activists’ but join them if it suits our goals and temperament. There are simple things we perhaps can do: Get rid of our household waste in a prescribed manner; do not litter beaches or the banks of rivers or the rivers themselves with plastic or food and other waste while picnicking, or enjoying a cruise; if in charge of industrial establishments, ensure that effluents are dealt with in ways that do not pollute our rivers and if we farm, minimise the use of pesticides as they wash away into the rivers along with the rain.
Rivers live, Rivers Give; let’s remember that, always.
