Kumbh pushes up economic growth

Dr Bharat Jhunjhunwala
Our people have long recognized the psychic powers of all major rivers of the country. There was a practice of taking bath in the Krishna River and carrying water to the temple of Srisailam on the hill and offering the same to Lord Shiva. Now water of the Krishna stinks in the Srisailam dam and this practice has come to an end. The same has happened to the temples below Hirkud Dam on the Mahanadi in Odisha. The practice of circumambulating the Narmada is declining after construction of the Sardar Sarovar Dam. This capacity of water is recognized in all major religions. Muslims’ experience is that waters of the Zam Zam have miraculous powers. Christians baptize the newborn with water. The Government, however, does not recognize that water is like a bank locker where you can put valuables and take them back. Water holds, retains, carries and gives psychic messages.
Crores of pilgrims come to the Kumbh with pious thoughts. Water of the Ganga absorbs these thoughts. These psychic waves are spontaneously transferred to the inner psyche of the pilgrim who takes a dip at the Sangam. This happens without he even knowing this. The mind of the pilgrim becomes clean and pure. His level of mental energy increases. A shopkeeper may be sitting morose. He is unhappy: ‘There are no customers. Taxes have to be paid.’ He may return fully energized should he take a dip at the Kumbh. He would get back into business with a gusto. This would lead to economic growth.
How to assess this contribution of the rivers though? To do this, I undertook a survey of pilgrims who had come to take a dip in the Ganga at Dev Prayag, Rishikesh and Hardwar before making of the Tehri Dam. 77 percent pilgrims said they got mental peace from taking a dip. 26 percent said they got health benefits; 14 percent made better business, 12 percent got a child, 12 percent got job and 9 percent got benefit in exams after the last time they had come here.
I tried to assess the value of the psychic charges lost due to making of the Tehri Dam. Pilgrims were asked to give a monetary value of the benefit they obtained from taking a dip in the Ganga. This was reckoned at Rs 51k per pilgrim. Then they were asked how much this benefit had increased or decreased compared to the benefit they derived during their previous visit before making of the Tehri Dam. 80 percent pilgrims said the benefits had decreased due to poorer quality of water. 20 percent said the benefits had increased due to increase in flow during winter and summer. On the whole it was assessed that the benefits declined by about 25 percent or Rs 13k per pilgrim due to making of the Tehri Dam. Multiplying this with the number of pilgrims I have assessed the loss to people from the construction of Tehri Dam at about Rs 65,000 crores per year.
The benefits from generation of electricity from the Tehri Dam are small in comparison. About 270 crore units of electricity are generated every year. A study by TERI indicates that the ‘willingness to pay’ for electricity is about Rs 6.9 for industrial consumers and Rs 3.7 for farmers. Deducting the purchase price of Rs 5 and 2 respectively we arrive at an estimate of net benefit to these consumers of about Rs 2 per unit. The benefit from generation of electricity from Tehri Dam is, therefore, about Rs 540 crore per year. This is about one-tenth of the benefit that could be got from removing the Tehri Dan and harnessing the psychic powers of the Ganga.
A similar decline in psychic quality of water is taking place at the Kumbh. The psychic powers are firstly destroyed at the Vishnu Prayag and Tehri hydropower dams on the Ganga. A cascade of dams is also in operation on the Yamuna. Practically all water of the Himalayan Ganga is removed for irrigation at Narora; and that of Yamuna is removed at Hathnipur. River water at the Kumbh is mainly coming from Ram Ganga and Chambal Rivers that join after these removals. Even the psychic charges remaining in water after passing through hydropower projects are barely reaching the Kumbh. The water is further sullied due to disposal of pollutants in Ganga from tanneries at Kanpur; and in Yamuna from industries at Delhi and Agra. I have no hesitation in saying that value of decline in the psychic powers of the river waters at Kumbh is much greater than Rs 13k assessed by pilgrims due to the Tehri Dam. Now, 5 crore pilgrims are expected to take a dip in the Kumbh. The monetary value of the loss is, therefore, about Rs 65,000 crore. This is not the end. Loss will continue to be borne by the people taking dip in the Ganga from Gangotri to Ganga Sagar throughout the year.
Unfortunately, the Government does not assess the economic value of the loss of psychic powers and only factors in the loss of economic value from irrigation, industries and hydropower. Less extraction of water for irrigation would lead to higher cost of agricultural production but allow the psychically-charged Himalayan water to reach the pilgrims downstream. Less dumping of pollutants in the rivers will increase the cost of industrial goods but will enable millions of pilgrims to take a dip in the clean water. Removal of hydropower projects will increase the cost of electricity but also provide more intense psychic charges to the people. A true cost-benefit analysis would require that the increased costs from less irrigation, less pollution and less electricity be assessed along with the increased benefits from conservation of the psychic powers of the river waters.
Our officials and ministers, however, are loath to take these psychic powers on board. Reason is that commissions are to be obtained in making of canals and distribution of water; commissions are to be made in illegally allowing disposal of pollutants in the rivers; commissions are to be made in signing MOUs with hydropower companies. The benefits from the psychic powers of the Ganga and the Kumbh, on the other hand, accrue to the people. The officials and ministers, if at all, get a miniscule share of these psychic benefits. Thus, extraction of water for irrigation, disposal of pollutants in the rivers and generation of hydropower is beneficial for the officials and ministers.
They get all the moolah and a miniscule fraction of the loss. For this reason conservation of psychic powers is not beneficial for them even though the economic benefits to the economy from this far exceeds those from other uses. Thus the Government has embarked on a policy using every drop of water of every river in the country for irrigation, carrying pollutants and generation of hydropower even though this is wholly anti-people and anti-economic growth.

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