Narmada Sewa Yatra, concluded on May 15 in Amarkantak after sensitising lakhs of people to river protection, emerges as a model for protection of other rivers
Umesh Chaturvedi from Amarkantak
Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan created history. His successful campaign, Narmada Sewa Yatra, proved to be an effective instrument for changing the people’s mindset. Lakhs of urban and rural people joined the Yatra and not only pledged to protect their lifeline Narmada but also to change their religious practices which now harm the river. It is a change which cannot be achieved through any strict law. This is the reason why Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi joined the concluding ceremony of the Yatra in Amarkantak on May 15 and stressed the need for other states to emulate Narmada model of river conservation.
Shri Modi appealed to Shri Shivraj Singh Chouhan to send the Action Plan of Narmada Sewa Yatra to all the states. “This campaign should become a model for other states too. Its action plan and draft should be sent to all the state Chief Ministers so that they could know how development can be ensured without harming the environment,” said the Prime Minister, while
turning to CM Chouhan at the function in Amarkantak. The PM went on saying that “this step is must to save the environment, rivers and the humanity”. The Yatra had begun on December 11, 2016 from Amarkantak with the mission to clean Narmada, restore ecological balance on both the sides of the river and to sensitise people to change their mindset.
The Yatra might have officially concluded, but it will
continue in the form of different follow-up activities. Six crore saplings will be planted on both the sides of the Narmada on July 2. The CM has already directed to remove the Eucalyptus trees as they are harmful to the River. However, before felling those trees, at least five trees will be planted in place of one tree. These trees will be protected by Vriksh Rakshaks. The government will provide them full support and logistics. Apart from it, in order to educate the young minds about
environment protection, the CM has announced to make it a part of school curriculum. Special departments will be created in various Universities for river conservation.
The biggest outcome of the Narmada Sewa Yatra is the change in mindset of the local people. The public participation in the campaign was highly enthusiastic. The CM’s dedication to the campaign was appreciated not only by the Prime Minister, but also by Mahamandaleshwar Swami Avadheshanand Giri who called him as ‘Bhagirath of Madhya Pradesh’. Shivraj Singh Chouhan deserves this laurel because he himself joined the Yatra at 48 places. Lakhs of people joined the 3334 km long Yatra in 146 days. During the entire Yatra, there were 1093 programmes of public dialogue. About 24.34 lakh people joined such dialogues. This figure is in addition to over two lakh people who joined the concluding ceremony in Amarkantak on May 15.
The topics discussed during the public dialogues included large-scale tree plantation to ensure free flow of the river Narmada, cleanliness on the banks of the river, prohibition, save and educate the girl child, etc. There are about 200
people who have resolved to dedicate their entire life to the cause of Narmada. The largest river protection campaign of the world passed through 615 Village Panchayats, 1093 villages and 51 development blocks. The main yatra was joined by 1862 small yatras which educated the people in far flung areas. About 85,000 people enrolled as volunteer through the Yatra website and about 40,000 saplings were planted symbolically during the Yatra. About 2032 social and cultural organisations arranged for meals etc for the Yatra participants. It is because of the
awareness generated through the Yatra that 712 Narmada Sewa Samitis have been formed in the villages situated on the banks of the river. Additionally, thousands of Narmada Sevaks were administered oath by the CM.
The laurel of Narmada Sewa Yatra by PM indicates that the campaign will prove to be a model for protection of other rivers also. It is worth emulating how the entire successful campaign was planned and successfully executed by CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan without earmarking any additional budget for it. n
