Keoladeo: A Gambhir Matter

Those of you who spotted the pun in the title get full marks in the Dying River Identification Test. The Gambhir is one of the two rivers that cause Keoladeo National Park (formerly the Bharatpur bird sanctuary) to exist. Simply put, no river = no wetlands = no birds.

The 'no river' is not a hypothesis, either.This river, like all others, has been dammed along its length. In recent years, a series of protests have moved the government to drastically reduce releases from the Panchana dam and block water to the National Park. Last year, this issue was 'resolved' by developing a Rs.56 crore plan to bring water from the Govardhan river, 17 kms away.

This is disturbing for several reasons:
1. The whole struggle hinged upon 'are farmers more important than birds?'. This is rhetoric aimed to inflame emotions rather than a real question. The truth is that both farms AND birds are part of the ecosystem and benefit from instream flows.

2. The 'solution' is not a solution, but a band-aid fix. Negotiations would be a true solution. Inter-basin transfer, even at a relatively small scale is not only eco-illogical, but also vulnerable to future protests. Water 'stolen' from another basin is not an assured source.

3. The plan to provide water to the park was not really made for the sake of the birds who journey here from Siberia and are bewildered when they encounter a dry expanse. Still less was it made for the eco-system. It was made because Keoladeo has World Heritage Status and losing it would mean some loss of face for India. The action is good, but the motive? In case you are not against an anthropomorphic view of an ecosystem, this poem might interest you and hopefully inspire the conservation of an ecosystem for it's own right to exist..