The Ramon Magsaysay Award-winning water conservationist Rajendra Singh, also known as Waterman of India, has claimed that the Northeast’s rivers, unlike the Ganga, are not receiving the same level of attention from the Centre, and has suggested that the region’s people adopt a community-driven decentralised water management process.
‘The Ganga is getting attention but there are other rivers too; 40 percent of central government’s fund is used in making big dams in Maharashtra, still farmers suicides happen. This shows our country needs better plans and equal distribution,’ he stated on the sidelines of Assam University’s 19th convocation in Silchar. He claimed that the Centre ignores the North-eastern states and that the plans adopted are ineffective.
Singh runs the non-profit Tarun Bharat Sangh and is a member of the National Ganga River Basin Authority. He claims that 72 percent of the country’s underground water has been taken. He went on to say that if the current trend continues for a decade, a significant population will be forced to relocate due to a lack of water. ‘If we continue abusing nature, lakhs of Indians will end up being climatic refugees…’
Nature has provided the gift of water to all living things, including flora and fauna, according to Singh. ‘We have to keep the balance otherwise our future generation will suffer. In Rajasthan, we have successfully revived so many rivers following the ancient Indian culture and lifestyle,’ he said.
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