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Health worries over Ganga Jal business
RISHIKESH: It’s 10.40 in the morning, and a small post office located on the banks of the picturesque Ganga river in Rishikesh is buzzing with activity.
RISHIKESH: It’s 10.40 in the morning, and a small post office located on the banks of the picturesque Ganga river in Rishikesh is buzzing with activity.
Ratan Rawat, the postmaster, just can’t seem to get off the phone. “Ho jayega, sir, saari cans jaldi aa jayengi (Will do, sir. We will ensure that all the cans reach soon),” he assures a senior official at the other end. It is with much difficulty that he catches a break from the phone to hurry across the road, where numerous plastic cans filled with Ganga Jal — or Ganga water — await his attention.
Since June 29, this post office has been sending Ganga Jal to a New Delhi facility, where it is filled in 200 ml and 500 ml bottles before being distributed to post offices across India. Communication and information technology minister Ravi Shankar Prasad had announced in May that Ganga Jal would be made available for sale at post offices and e-commerce platforms across India. The sales began earlier this month to a rousing response from those with a religious bent of mind.
The water is collected from two places in Uttarakhand – Rishikesh and Gaumukh. Rawat says he and five colleagues have been sending 2,000 litres of water, enough to produce 10,000 bottles of 200 ml each, every day to Delhi.
According to the rate list, a 200-ml bottle of water collected from Rishikesh costs Rs 15 while a 500-ml bottle comes up to Rs 22. Water collected from Gaumukh — the source of the river — costs a little more, at Rs 25 for a 200-ml bottle and Rs 35 for a 500-ml one. However, Gaumukh water has been out of bounds in recent days. “We are no longer collecting water from there due to the monsoon and frequent road blockages,” says GD Arya, superintendent (postal) of the Tehri Garhwal zone.
Despite all the excitement, the postal department’s flourishing Ganga Jal business is beset by grave health concerns. The river has been muddied in recent times due to rains in the upper reaches of the state. The water is collected as it is, with sediments and contaminants, and the postal employees have no idea if it is purified at the central facility.
Not everybody is happy with the idea of the postal department selling Ganga Jal either — and Haridwar priests figure among the disgruntled ones. Purshottam Sharma, president of the Ganga Sabha, believes making commercial use of the river goddess is wrong. “Pilgrims visit these parts to pay obeisance to the goddess and collect water. We fail to understand what the BJP government is up to, and why it is suddenly selling something so holy,” he asks.
Dozens of small traders in the area, who came upon this idea before Prasad, are also disgruntled with the postal department’s move. “I am ready to negotiate with them to save my livelihood,” says 51-year-old Pradeep Kumar from Haridwar, who had registered a Ganga water packaging firm barely five months ago.
The Uttarkashi Mineral Corporation (UMC), the first registered firm in Uttarakhand to trade in Ganga water, levelled a serious allegation against the postal department. “We ensure complete treatment of Ganga Jal before selling it. The postal department is selling muddy water that can’t be used for drinking or any other purpose,” says UMC manager Anita Sharma.
