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FULL DETAILS OF RALLY FOR RIVERS.
WHAT?, WHY?, WHEN?, HOW?.
ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW - Join the ‘Rally for Rivers’ .
‘Rally for Rivers’ nation-wide campaign flagged off from city.
Ironical that rally has to be taken out to protect rivers.
Why I feel Sadhguru's much-hyped 'Rally for Rivers' fails to address the real problem.
IndiGo teams up with Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev's Isha Foundation to 'Rally for Rivers'.
Don’t let the rivers run dry.
Over 6,000 Hyderabadis take to the streets to pledge their support for india’s rivers.
Nagpur youths, NGO to join in support of Rally for Rivers.
Citizens to take part in Rally for Rivers awareness event.
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If you are concerned about India’s rivers, the simplest way you can participate in reviving them is by giving a missed call to 80009 80009. Don’t forget to encourage everyone you know to give a missed call too!
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Launched by Sadhguru, the campaign urges people to conserve depleting water bodies.
COIMBATORE: A racer, two cricketers and several politicians joined hands with spiritual guru Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev batting for rejuvenation of rivers in the country on Sunday.
Union environment, forest and climate change minister Harsh Vardhan Singh, cricketers Virendhar Sewag, Mithali Raj and car racer Narain Karthikeyan flagged off the nationwide campaign tagged 'Rally for Rivers', initiated by Isha Foundation and presented by The Times of India, from VOC Park in Coimbatore, where river Noyyal is dying a slow death. The campaign aims to bring a policy change at the national level to save the rivers.
Harsh Vardhan who flew down to Coimbatore after completing attending the swearing in ceremony of new ministers said the rally was a historic event not just for the city of Coimbatore but for the country. He said it was sad that a rally was organized in India, blessed with so many rivers.
"This is our moral responsibility. It is our duty to see that we protect the rights of the future generation of children," he said adding that the central government would welcome Sadhguru when the rally culminates in New Delhi on October 2 after covering 16 states and 7,000km.
Virender Sehwag recalled the glory of rivers of India in the past. "Four decades ago, the rivers in my native village were flowing in full capacity and they were a sight to watch. I want to see that again and that is the reason I support this cause," said Sehwag.
Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev said that the phenomenon of simultaneous droughts and floods in the country was born out of the society's apathy. "Our ancestors handed us the rivers, forests, canals and other natural resources. But the present generation has taken such a huge bite from it that there will be nothing left for future generations in the coming decades," said Sadhguru.
He added that instead of just taking up a social activity, he wanted to bring in a long-term policy change. "This 30-day journey is to create awareness about our rivers and ensure that all citizens take part in this change. It is historic that political parties of various states in spite of differences in their ideologies and state affairs are coming together for this cause. It is time that we say no to freebies and seek better developmental projects from the government and support them when they are implemented," he said. His next stop is Madurai and Kanyakumari in Tamil Nadu before taking the rally across the country.
"It is very important to spread this message of protecting rivers across,'' said Mithali Dorairaj, captain of women's cricket team.
The flagging off ceremony saw hundreds of people from various walks of life, young and old, gathering at VOC Park grounds. Ten-year-old Yash Patil, a student who was present, said he did not want to steal water or live in world struggling for water.
Jaggi Vasudev also exchanged a memorandum with the Tamil Nadu Agricultural University vice-chancellor K Ramasamy who has agreed to provide technical support for the campaign.
The governor of Punjab, V P Singh Badnore was also present.
If you are expecting "godman" Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev to save and revive India’s rivers, don’t hold your breath.
In case you live on another planet and missed it, Sadhguru has issued a rallying call to "Save Our Rivers", drawing in support from Bollywood biggies and politicians alike - Salman Khan, Anupam Kher, Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu among others.
Sadhguru has diagnosed the ailment right stating that our rivers are dying. Perennial rivers are becoming seasonal - the Godavari ran dry for most of last year, rivers are losing their flows, for instance, Narmada by 60 per cent while some smaller rivers have vanished all together.
Our rivers (read lifelines) are choked by fifth, stilled by dams, reduced to toxic drains by our waste, effluents and our perception of rivers as giant dustbins.
Yet, I do not extend my support to the godman’s cause.
I find the rally almost superfluous in its content failing to address any of the real issues that plague our rivers. Himanshu Thakkar of the South Asia Network of Dams, Rivers and People also agrees, “The rally does not address the most serious problems rivers face: Mining of sand beds and boulders, pollution, deforestation, encroachment on river beds, biodiversity destruction, river-linking, river conservation policies (or lack of them).”
Here is what these threats will do to our rivers:
Flow of rivers throttled with back-to-back dams
So much so that it is estimated that if all proposed and ongoing dams (about 600) in Ganga were to come up, the river will be tunnelled almost all along its entire stretch.
Dams and hydro-projects have huge ecological and social costs – displacing people, submerging forests, reducing flows. In Chambal river, the 200-odd irrigation and power projects have nearly halved the available habitat for the Gangetic dolphin and the gharial, an ancient crocodilian of which fewer than a 1,000 remain in the wild. Further north in Himachal Pradesh, the Kol dam drowned a chunk of the endangered cheer pheasant’s habitat in Majathal Wildlife Sanctuary.
National Waterways Act of 2016
This Act will transform over 100 of India’s rivers, including the holy Ganga, into a busy inland waterway, along the lines of a National Highway to transport cargo. Rivers will be dredged to re-engineer them into navigable water canals, and will involve massive construction of barrages, embankments for port terminals etc.
The ships that sail will carry passengers, chemicals, coal, oil. Any accidental spill will be disastrous. It will be a death knell for the Gangetic dolphin, with over 90 per cent of its distribution overlapping the waterways.
Our flagship dolphin species is blind, it uses echo-location to "see" and sense danger, hunt food, find mates. But its world is set to become infinitely noiser, with the dredging and din of vessel engines and traffic.
Deforestation
Massive deforestation is reducing rivers to trickles of water. Take the Cauvery, which has Karnataka and Tamil Nadu (home to Sadhguru’s Isha Foundation ashram) embroiled in water wars.
Over millennia, the dense forests of the Western Ghats nourished its catchment and helped retain water on the hill slopes enabling slow percolation into streams that fed the river. Widespread destruction of forests has reduced this once mighty river to into dust tracts in parts before it dribbles down to the Bay of Bengal.
Sand mining destroys river banks that are nesting sites for turtles, crocodiles and gharials. The massive loot of this natural resource to fuel the construction boom in urban India not only changes the course and ecology of rivers, but leads to collapse of water tables, and thereby agriculture, along the traditionally fertile banks.
River-linking project
India’s ambitious and audacious river-linking project will reshape and realign the natural flow of 37 rivers, redrawing India’s geography. The very basis of river linking - damming "surplus" river water to direct the flow into those not so well-endowed is flawed.
No river has surplus water. Each drop performs a function - be it recharging groundwater to supporting aquatic life. The mega Rs 6 lakh crore river-linking project will cost India dear – economically, socially, ecologically. It will submerge 27 lakh hectares, drowning fertile lands, villages, homes, forests, wildlife sanctuaries, including the Panna Tiger Reserve in Madhya Pradesh.
While Sadhguru has spoken out against river-linking, this major threat features prominently in the campaign.
The lifeblood of civilisation cannot sustain life anymore. In a span of 40 years (1970–2012) the wildlife of the rivers - mammals, reptiles, amphibians, birds and fish - has plummeted by over 80 per cent as per a World Wildlife Fund report.
To make matters worse, the cure may hasten the demise of the rivers. “The simplest solution,” says the Rally for River site, “to rejuvenate India’s rivers is to maintain a minimum of one kilometre tree cover on riversides and half a kilometer for tributaries.”
Not so.
Plantations are an over-hyped nirvana for environment ails.
River sides do not necessarily need tree cover, indeed that may ruin the ecosystem. For example, planting of trees along the Chambal, which has ravines along its bank, will be an unmitigated disaster. Ravines are a unique geographical feature, and in its scraggy furrowed fords nurture wolves, fox, caracals, hyena and other rare wildlife.
"Rally for Rivers" upholds Narmada as a shining example, referring to the race to plant six crore saplings in 12-hours along the banks of river Narmada. But planting trees in haste with an eye on the Guinness World Records is not going to save "Maa Narmada" or Madhya Pradesh or the world as Madhya Pradesh CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan tweeted at the launch of this campaign in July 2017.
We need to let the natural eco-systems of rivers and river banks rejuvenate. Yes, we can plant and nurture shrubs, grasses aquatic vegetation along riversides, but I wonder if this campaign has room for nuances.
The cry to save our rivers should call for a policy that resolves the various threats listed above, not merely plantation of trees along riversides.
So, Sadghuru Jaggi Vasudev, you have got it right. Our rivers are dying. And as you say, each one of us who consumes water must rally to save them. But why does this rally conveniently ignore the serious threats – all of them sensitive and fraught politically - that our rivers face.
Populist ideas don't make ecological sense, unless backed by sound research, science and the guts to take on the real issues which plague our rivers and our lifelines.
Wearing blue symbolically or giving missed calls will not soothe the many insults we have heaped on rivers if we fail to address the root cause of their death.
The "Rally for Rivers" has drawn huge mass support which can potentially change the plight of our rivers if this energy is channelised to change policies that can give our rivers another lease of life. It will also serve the rivers - and us - well, if we view them in a difference light.
Change our perception of rivers beyond storehouses of water, and large garbage bins for our waste. Rivers are embedded in the Indian culture and spirituality, we hold them sacred.
Let’s not play God with rivers we revere as Gods.
IndiGo teams up with Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev's Isha Foundation to 'Rally for Rivers'
Effective September 15, the airline will also promote specially curated content through e-tickets and water cups on board across network, till September end.
IndiGo is going all out to promote a nationwide Rally for Rivers’ awareness campaign, starting today across its 46 destinations. ‘Rally for Rivers’ or Nadhi Abhiyaan is a nationwide awareness campaign by Guru Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev and Isha Foundation.
IndiGo’s in-flight magazine Hello 6E incorporates an inspiring write up to encourage 6E passengers to join ‘Rally for Rivers’ awareness campaign. Effective September 15, the airline will also promote specially curated content through e-tickets and water cups on board across network, till September end. 6E passengers are requested to join the movement with vigour and zeal and share their ‘Rally for Rivers’ moments/personal messages @IndiGo6E and Instagram - to spread the word. This makes IndiGo the first Indian carrier to join the movement.
‘Rally for Rivers’ or Nadhi Abhiyaan is a nationwide awareness campaign addressing the depleting conditions of our rivers across 13 states. To create mass awareness, Sadhguru will himself drive from Kanyakumari to the Himalayas through 16 states. The month long campaign will include 21 major events and numerous smaller events, both online and off-line to touch every segment of society traversing a stretch of over 7000 km across India.
Citizens from every section of society expressed their responsibility to revive India’s depleting rivers. Large number of people, sporting ‘Rally for Rivers’ t- shirts, placards, headgears and stickers stood for three hours from 8 am to 11 am on the streets across Hyderabad on September 1, urging people to rally for rivers by giving a missed call to 80009- 80009. Each missed call would be a vote of support for rejuvenating our rivers.
Dr Raghu Ram, Isha Volunteer and Director, KIMS-USHALAKSHMI Centre for Breast Diseases, said, “Due to pressures of population and development, our perennial rives are becoming seasonal and many small rivers have already vanished. Around 5 per cent of India is turning into a desert and in 15 years time, we will have only half the water that we need for survival.”
He said that the rally was not a protest or an agitation. “Today’s campaign in the city, which is a part of Pan India campaign, is to sensitise people about these stark realities and request them to be part of a national movement to save our rivers by giving a missed call to 8009 – 8009,” he added.
Dr Raghu Ram, Shipla Reddy, Jwala Gutta and many other prominent people and Isha volunteers from all walks of life held placards at KBR Park to spread the much needed awareness.
To raise awareness, Sadhguru, founder of Isha Yoga Centre will personally drive through 16 states from Kanyakumari to Himalayas and back to Delhi on October 2 for a grand culmination. The rally was flagged off by the Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change on September 3.
As a part of #RallyForRivers, 100,000 schools across India are participating in creative writing and art competitions on the need to revive India’s rivers and possible solutions. In each of these schools, the Nadi Stuti or the river chant- is being played in the assembly followed by an appeal from Sadhguru and Virender Sehwag. An online short film competition is being hosted on the rallyforrivers.org calling all filmmakers to make a short film narrating the story of India’s depleting rivers. Shekhar Kapur, Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra and Prahlad Kakkar will be the jury for this video contest. To sign up, log on to rallyforrivers.org
If you cared to take a moment off from your phone screen while walking past the streets on Friday, it is unlikely to have missed a bunch of proactive youngsters making waves through silence. Rally for Rivers, a month-long initiative, by Isha Foundation headed by Sadhguru, kick started on September 1, across various locations in Bengaluru – with concerned citizens holding placards to raise awareness about the harrowing conditions of the major rivers across the country. The morning protest, which was a day long activity to bring forth the idea about how imperative it is to save rivers and how a difference could be brought about through just a missed call, has garnered much talk in the city. We find out more from active members...
Enthusing how the activity was conjured up to stir immediate awareness, Shajan Samuel, a management professional and social worker states, “I had no idea that our rivers Ganga, Narmada, Krishna and Godavari are depleting and are the primary sources of consumable water. I also had no idea that by the year 2030, we will have less than 50 percent of the water we need to survive. I held a placard and stood for an hour between 9-10 am at the Sony world signal in Koramangala. The idea was to get more people to take note, and understand how important it is for us as a community to take charge.”
Sruthi Hariharan, Sandalwood actress stated on her official Instgram account “When the river goes dry, we will realise the worth of water... But why wait until then to do something....I look at this as an opportunity; an opportunity for us to come together as a community and drive effective execution of a policy, downward -up.”
Mohit Punia, a senior game designer, who participated at the rally with his wife and their three-year-old daughter points out, “We arrived at the spot at 8 am, and took the sign board and pamphlets. Initially it was just me holding the sign. People were resistant interacting with me, but they were comfortable interacting with my wife and daughter. In no time all pamphlets were gone, people stopped to make the call. This activity has convinced us that clarity and conscious efforts can bring about herculean changes.”
Sridevi Chinnasamy, a city-based software professional concludes by stating, “This (campaign) is one of the most beautiful experiences, as it facilitates fresh thought literally on the middle of the road! ” The rally with Sadhguru will take place in Bengaluru on September 8.
Over 6,000 Hyderabadis take to the streets to pledge their support for india’s rivers.
Braving the sharp September sun and peak hour traffic, over 6,000 Hyderabadis set their Friday morning chores aside to 'rally for rivers'. The nationwide campaign being held to call attention to the country's depleting rivers, kickstarted on September 1, with people from all walks of life taking a vow to join hands to save our rivers.
In Hyderabad, supporters gathered at 25 venues around the city, holding placards and banners urging "everyone who drinks water" to join the movement. The silent campaign saw participants dressed in blue and white line up at 8:30 am dot, at various points in the city — from Dilshuknagar to Panjagutta, covering areas like Malakpet, Nampally and Khairatabad; from Begumpet all the way till Hitec City, ending at Gaichibowli stadium —piquing the curiosity of passersby, who stopped to find out about the cause and even gave missed calls to pledge their support.
At KBR Park, a host of city celebrities turned up to extend their support. badminton player Jwala Gutta, designer Shilpa Reddy, actor Samrat Reddy, filmmaker Elahe Hiptoola among others, were spotted standing in solidarity.
"It's high time we wake up to the fact that our rivers are drying up. We have a responsibility as rivers are the lifeline of our country. Many scientists have issued a clarion call to our countrymen, but unfortunately this issue has not received the attention it deserves," said Shilpa.
Jwala echoed Shilpa's sentiment, saying, "Firstly, we have to take the blame for creating such a mess; only then we can avert this ecological disaster that's looming large. Every citizen of India has to work with the government in this regard and take a pledge to do our bit to save our rivers."
Sailaja Kumar, a volunteer said, "Our aim is to rejuvenate rivers by carrying out 1 km-wide afforestation drives on river sides. However, the real challenge lies in sensitising people about the urgency of the issue." This campaign was a curtain-raiser for rally for Rivers which will kick off on September 3, from Coimbatore, covering 16 states, and culminate in Delhi on Oct 2.
Citizens to take part in Rally for Rivers awareness event.
Hyderabad, Aug 31 (PTI) Scores of people are expected to take part in awareness events here tomorrow and in other cities ahead of campaign Rally for Rivers, to commence on Sunday, organisers said today.
"Lakhs of people will stand for from 8 am to 11 am on the streets in various cities holding placards, urging people to support the rally by giving a missed call to 80009 80009. Each missed call will be a vote of their support for rejuvenating our rivers," volunteers of Isha Foundation told reporters here.
Rally for Rivers is a nation-wide campaign of Isha Foundation to save rivers in the country and would see founder Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev himself ride about 7,000 km from Kanyakumari, covering 16 states to create awareness on the issue, they said.
The rally will be flagged off on September 3 and culminate in Delhi on October 2.
Along the way, there will be 23 major events and series of awareness campaigns.
"The rally, aimed to create awareness on the need to protect our rivers, will enter Hyderabad on September 14," they said.
An expert committee of environmental scientists and lawmakers are in the process of drawing up a draft policy recommendation, which suggests that a simple yet effective means to replenish rivers is to create a kilometre-wide tree cover on riversides and half a kilometre for tributaries.
A volunteer, Pradad Atmakur said that they are in talks with Andhra Pradesh and Telangana governments and an action plan is being prepared over the matter. PTI VVK RS ARS
Nagpur youths, NGO to join in support of Rally for Rivers
NAGPUR: Several college students will be standing at popular places in the city such as Liberty Talkies, RBI square, Lokmat square, Shankar Nagar, Law College square, VNIT college etc to promote Rally for Rivers, a campaign to raise awareness about the depletion of rivers. City NGO Renovatio has collaborated with Isha Foundation, which has initiated the campaign. Students from colleges, supporters and volunteers will assemble and hold placards about the campaign from 8.30am to 10.30am.
"There will be no sloganeering or shouting. It's going to be a peaceful activity to raise maximum awareness. As an independent NGO, we may not be able to take up grand projects but we can support those who are doing it," says Nakul Agrawal, founder of Renovatio. This mass awareness event is supposed to take place in over 60 cities across India.
The campaign urges people to give a missed call on 8000980009 in order to quantify public support. The missed calls will act as a vote in support of reviving rivers.
The campaign aims to build adequate awareness and momentum among all sections of the society and the government. Its second step is to facilitate creation of a policy document at the national level and finally, the implementation of the policy. The rally will be covering areas such as Madurai, Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Mumbai, but will not pass through Nagpur. Rather, the rally will pass through Bhopal and Indore before moving towards Lucknow and Jaipur.
Ganga, Krishna, Narmada, Kaveri rivers are some of the focus areas. The rally flags off on September 3 from Coimbatore and culminates on October 2 in New Delhi, where the 'River rejuvenation policy recommendation' will be presented to the government.
'Maintain a minimum of one kilometre tree cover on river sides', 'planting forest trees on government land and fruit trees on farm land' are some of the solutions preached by the campaign. This will ensure that our rivers are fed throughout the year by the moist soil.
Creative Art Contest - Rally for Rivers - Sadhguru
This is not a protest. This is not an agitation. This is a campaign to raise awareness that our rivers are depleting. Everyone who consumes water must Rally For Rivers. - Sadhguru
Our Rivers Are Dying
India’s rivers are undergoing a drastic change. Due to the pressures of population and development, our perennial rivers are becoming seasonal. Many of the smaller rivers have already vanished. Flood as well as drought are becoming increasingly frequent as rivers turn unruly during the monsoon, and vanish once the rainy season is over.
Rally for Rivers is a nationwide awareness campaign to revive our rivers. Conceived by Sadhguru, the campaign has been taken up by every section of society across the nation. But this campaign can be a success only if youth lead from the front. And art is a powerful medium to convey a message. So get your creative juices flowing and let the nation know about the crisis our rivers are facing!
The Contest
Topic
Saving Rivers: India’s Lifelines
Description
Get your whole school together – students, teachers and staff – and create a collaborative mega-art project that tells us about saving India’s rivers.
Judgment Criteria:
The uploaded entries will be open for voting online.
Once you upload, you get 100 points
Each like gives 20 points
Each share gives 40 points
Prizes
Grand Prize for National Winner: Cash prize of INR 4 lakh
National Runner-up:Cash prize of INR 2 lakh
Outstanding projects will be displayed at the Rally for River city events and on Nickelodeon.
The weekly best artwork gets a cash prize of INR 10,000.
The daily best artwork will be mentioned on the website.
A school’s artwork will be recognised on the Rally for Rivers and Nickelodeon Social Media pages.
copyrights reserved @ Venu Kancheti
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