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Year After Year, Sages of Matri Sadan Continue Their Struggle and Sacrifice for Protecting the Ganga
In recent weeks, the sages of Matri Sadan, an ashram based in Haridwar (Uttarakhand) have been very active in their efforts to protect Ganga river. Their preferred method has been again to fast to draw attention to numerous violations of earlier promises to protect the Ganga river. At the time of writing this on September 13, the fast of Swami Atmabodhanand has already completed 25 days. A wider meeting of friends from various parts of the country has been called to express solidarity with the fasting sage.
He is a young monk from Kerala, in his mid twenties. He started his career on a succesful note in more worldly terms as a computer engineer, then gave it all up and came to Matri Sadan to devote his life to the protection of Ganga river and other such higher goals.
He is guided in this by Swami Shivanand, the elder saint who started the Matri Sadan in 1997 to save the Ganga. He is a post graduate in Chemistry. The demands of these sages have been basd on scientific facts, even though they speak about the river in devotional terms.
These demands are based mainly on stopping construction of dams and hydel projects in the Himalayan reach of the Ganga river and its tributaries, stopping destructive mining and related stone crushing activities in and around the rivers. More recently, demands of an unbiased inquiry into the death of some sages and their mistreatment as well as speedy disposal of certain judicial processes have also been addded.
These demands are in continuation of the demands raised by Swami Sanand, the sage of Matri Sadan with the highest scientific credentials, who died while fasting for the protection of the Ganga river in 2018. It has been stated that he had the best scientific understanding of issues relating to protection of Ganga river and disagreed strongly with the official approach of the current government which has publicized huge achievements without recording significant progress.
At the time of another recent fast of Atmabodhanand, Medha Patkar, leading activist of Narmada Bachao Aandolan, had extended strong support to the demands voiced by the young sage and his colleagues, adding that the demands were rooted firmly in scientific facts.
So far three saints associated with Matra Sadan have died here fasting for protection of Ganga. One saint of this ashram is reported to have been killed by the mining mafia for raising his voice against destructive mining activities.
In fact soon after the latest fast of the young sage with curled hair started, in another development about 60 experts and eminent citizens wrote to the government, protesting against its recent decision to re-start seven hydel projects on the Ganga river and its tributaries in its Himalayan reach in Uttarakhand. These had been stopped earlier on the recommendations of a committee of experts constituted at the direction of the Supreme Court of India. These include bigger projects like Tehri Stage II, Tapovan Vishnugad and Vishnugad Pipalkoti.
Given the obstinate attitude of the government in continuing such projects, Matra Sadan started observing long protest fasts for protection of Ganga river. Hence this ashram became known far and wide as the abode of saints who are very deeply devoted to the protection of Ganga river. Swami Shivanand on his own has fasted 17 times.
This recognition of this ashram spread further when Swami Gyan Swaroop Sanand selected this ashram for starting his long fast against indiscriminate dam construction and other aspects of ecological ruin, a fast which attracted attention all over the country in 2018.
On October 11 2018 Swami Sanand, earlier known as Prof. G.D. Aggarwal, passed away on the 111th day of his fast at Rishikesh (Uttarakhand). He had earlier made an important contribution as Member Secretary of the Central Pollution Control Board. He obtained doctorate from University of California Berkeley and taught at IIT Kanpur.
In the later years of his life he became a sage or a sanyasi and devoted himself fully to the protection of Ganga river. During his fasts for protection of river he often quoted scientifically conducted studies. His main demand related to the implementation of a report on Ganga protection which had been prepared by an officially constituted committee (constituted by the present union government).
His another demand for a relook at some highly dubious hydel projects in the Himalayan region was based on careful study and reasoning. Again he did not ask for anything arbitrary but only for more debate on these dubious projects and stopping the construction till then.
It is sad that despite the union government claiming to pay top priority to Ganga protection a sage scientist with the highest level of commitment to river protection had to die after a 111 days fast while raising demands relating to protection of Ganga river.
Even after the supreme sacrifice of Swami Sanand the problems remained resolved and so other sages of Matri Sadan continued to fast for long periods to draw attention to the various threats to the Ganga river. These efforts and sacrifices continue to this day.
The issues raised by these sages and their fasts have sound scientific base and several studies on the highly destructive impacts of hydel projects and sand and gravel mining on these rivers are already available. Hence the issues and demands raised by these sages of Matri Sadan should get wide support.
(Bharat Dogra is a journalist and author. His recent books include ‘Man Over Machine’ and ‘Vimla and Sunderlal Bahuguna, Chipko Movement and the Struggle Against Tehri Dam’.)
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Seema Sharma, in another article published in Newsclick, “Haridwar Seer on Indefinite Fast Against Hydroelectric Projects”, adds (extract):
Swami Atmabodhanand, the young seer of Matri Sadan, in Haridwar, is on an indefinite fast since August 18 demanding an immediate prohibition on rampant sand mining in Haridwar and ban on the four hydroelectric projects (HEPs) in Uttarakhand—Tapovan Vishnugad (520 MW), Vishnugad Pipalkoti (444 MW), Singoli Bhatwari (99 MW) and Phata Byung (76 MW).
The Union environment ministry had recently recommended resuming the construction of seven HEPs, including the above-mentioned four projects plus Tehri II (1000 MW), Madhmaheshwar (15 MW) and Kaliganga II (4.5 MW).
Alarmed by the ministry’s decision, a group of more than 60 experts and activists have written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi demanding that the decision be immediately revoked (published in Janata Weekly in Sept 19, 2021 issue).
“The expert committee formed at the behest of the Supreme Court and headed by me had strongly recommended against building HEPs in para-glacial zones. It was corroborated by the committee that the existing HEPs played a pivotal role in aggravating the disastrous impact of the 2013 flashflood devastation,” Ravi Chopra, a noted environmentalist in Uttarakhand, told Newsclick.
The warnings of Chopra and other experts against building such projects make perfect sense. “By approving the construction of the dams on the Ganges, the Centre has ignored environmental concerns, the latest massive Rishi Ganga disaster, the advice of experts and their opinions,” Mallika Bhanot, activist, Uttarkashi-based Ganga Ahwan, told Newsclick.
The Centre had promised to stop mining sand in the Raiwala-Bhogwala stretch and the construction on the four HEPs when the 29-year-old Atmabodhanand started a 194-day fast in 2018.
“Though the Centre gave assurance in writing to meet my demands, the state government did not fulfil them. I reminded the state government several times. My last resort was to go on fasting again. Even if I die for the cause of the holy river, somebody else will observe fast to ensure the clean and free flow of Ganges,” Atmabodhanand told Newsclick. No state government official enquired about his health or talked with him regarding his demands.
Atmabodhanand, who had fasted nine times earlier in protest, has also demanded a probe by a special investigation team into death of Swami Nigamanand, another seer of Matri Sadan, who died in June 2011 after fasting for 114 days; death of professor GD Aggarwal, who had fasted for 111 days in 2018; and the persecution of Sadhavi Padmavati by the government when fasted last year. The fasts were held to demand unrestrained flow of river Ganges, restricted by dams and the damage caused by sand mining.
Matri Sadan head Swami Shivanand told Newsclick, “We also demand an investigation into the way our fasting seers have been picked by district administration officials from the ashram premises and killed by poisoning at hospitals. How is it possible that GD Aggarwal, who was fine even after 111 days of fasting when officials forcibly took him to the hospital in Rishikesh, was declared dead the next day? The same happened with Nigamanand.”
Shivanand alleged that both Atmabodhanand and Padmavati have been tortured by officials in the hospitals in the past. “Padmavati lost her cognitive abilities due to the torture. Since ancient times demons have been trying to crush seers with their power but seers and good souls have been fighting them with their inner strength and sacrifices. The sacrifice of few people is nothing compared to the much-bigger cause of saving mother Ganges,” Swami Shivanand added.
