Revitalization of Rivers in India Draft Policy - Isha Guru Jaggi Vasudev

Revitalization of Rivers In India
Draft Policy Recommendation
SOURCE AUGMENTATION OF RIVERS
A TREE PLANTATION APPROACH
The benefits of forests are intrinsic to the cultures that have had a
deep relationship with nature. Charles C. Mann in 1491: New Revelations of
the Americas Before Columbus, describes how evolved the native American
way of living was before the invasion of the Europeans. Their system of
cultivations was based on tree farming, also known as forest gardening,
and was quite advanced compared to what is practiced as agriculture
today. Across India, traditionally there are certain patches of forest in
and around a village that are kept untouched. These are called the sacred
groves, or temple forests. People are educated on the types of trees which
are worshipped and which they are not permitted to cut. Two trees that
are worshipped unanimously all across the country are Ficus bengalensis
(banyan) and Ficus religiosa (bodhi / peepal). Certain trees are linked to
specific kinds of worship. For example, a festival is celebrated in winter
to worship Amla, i.e. Phyllanthus emblica. Lord Shiva had to be worshiped
with leaves of Balanites aegyptiaca and Datura stramonium fruits, and
Calotropis procera flowers besides others. 13
Forests are important in the context of precipitation. India gets
its rain from monsoon rainfall. These rains have seasonally changing
patterns, unlike convection rains. With various hill ranges, there are
regions that fall on the leeward side or the rain shadow regions of the
mountain ranges. In the rain shadow regions, the forest’s ability to
cause inland rain by seeding the water laden clouds becomes very critical
especially during the drought years.
It is interesting to observe that in current times we understand
the benefits of forests only when they are lost and not when they were
thriving. Our ancestors did not know reductionist science, but they
were sensitive to observe empirically what role nature played and how
the wellbeing of human society is linked to the environment around
us. Nature would remind us of the precariousness of our lives in quite a
number of ways. While the advancements in science and technology have
shielded us from the risks associated with many natural phenomena, the
cost has been the loss of our relationship with nature. However, recently
people are rediscovering this connection and have begun a number of
initiatives to restore forests.
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