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As nations gear up for the Copenhagen climate meet in December to discuss global warming, a group of adventurers led by a Swiss, Andy Leemann, traverse more than 2500 km down the Ganges to assess the impact of climate change on the shrinking Himalayan glaciers. Sandipan B reports.
From the snow-capped mountains to the silvery sand-dunes of Indo-Gangetic plains, it was a soul journey for a Swiss adventurers' team romancing the many-splendoured Ganges. If at one moment they survived the formidable rapids, next, they were in awe of the deep canyons as the mighty river hurtles down the virile timeless mountains.
But these were men with a mission. They sailed down the long river to record the impact of climate change on the Himalayan glaciers threatened by global warming.
Led by Andy Leemann - a lanky Swiss river-explorer who earlier had led expeditions on great rivers like Amazon, Mekong, Orinoco and Zambezi - the team sailed from Gomukh, the source of the Ganges, to its confluence, Sagar Island, in the Bay of Bengal.
The 15-member crew- comprising nine professional adventurers from six countries, including India- undertook the maiden voyage coursing along 2,521-km long riverine path, both on foot and by boat, over a period of 35 days and completed their expedition on Oct 19. The purpose was to draw attention of the international community to the environmental threats. It also focused upon sustainable solutions to river pollution.
"This expedition has been very special to me and my team as we found the Ganges extremely interesting with a whole lot of diversity of wildlife and natural pulchritude.
"Our encounter with the people living along its banks, tremendous potential of soft tourism, cultural richness and, over all, the environmental significance of the river have overwhelmed us," says Leemann, adding, "Every day has been full of surprises and full of close encounters with the river where strangers became friends and this is what has made sailing on the Ganges so exciting for us."
But the voyage was not easy. The group met with formidable challenges posed by the river.
"I have done many expeditions on various rivers in my life, but Ganges is something special to me. It's really a surprising river. For the first 500 km, it's a narrow stream. It suddenly turns huge after its confluence with the Yamuna."
Supported by boat manufacturer AB Inflatables, Green Cross International, a leading global green group founded by former Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev and Zurich-based leisure travel firm Kuoni, the Ganges Expedition documented the state of the mighty Indian river and its threats from climate change.
The crew navigated about 1,800 km from Haridwar, a temple city at the foothills of the Himalayas, to the Indo-Gangetic plains with three 4.3-metre long rigid inflatable boats (ABI 14 AL - Superlight), camping on the riverbank or sleeping at various temples along the Ganges.
The team also visited the pilot project of the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) to clean up the river.
According to Leemann, the Swiss non-profit foundation Myclimate has offset all carbon emissions caused by the expedition. The funds from these offsets will be channelled into financing a waste recycling project in Bali, Indonesia.
"The expedition was targeted at documenting some of the environmental threats that the river is now facing due to India's agricultural progress and emerging industrial economy," the 54-year-old Swiss boating expert says.
A documentary on the entire expedition was shot and is going to be shown around the world before the Copenhagen summit, Leemann informs.
Experts say that the Ganges is under serious threat from global warming. According to a United Nations (UN) climate report, the Himalayan glaciers that are the sources of the Ganges could disappear by 2030 as temperature rises.
The melting of Gangotri glaciers has also threatened Asia's supply of fresh water. The WWF had listed the Ganges among the world's 10 most endangered rivers.
In India, the river provides fresh water to more than 500 million people for drinking and agricultural use. There are over 100 cities and countless villages situated along the 1,568-mile long holy river that stretches from the foothills of the Himalayas to the Bay of Bengal.
About 40 percent of world's total fresh water comes from the Himalayas. The immediate effect of glacier shrinkage is a short-lived surplus of water. But in the long run, the supply will run out and the Ganges would eventually become a seasonal river, largely depending on monsoon rains, environmentalists fear.
The environment ministers and top officials from 192 countries will meet in Copenhagen for the United Nations climate conference (COP15) on Dec 7 this year to thrash out a successor to the Kyoto protocol, a global agreement that had set binding targets for 37 industrialised countries and the European community for reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions .
However, the US had rejected the 1997 Kyoto protocol adopted in the eponymous Japanese city with its former president George W. Bush arguing that the 5 percent reductions required by the treaty would "wreck the American economy".
Developing countries, including Asian superpowers like China and India, believe it is the responsibility of wealthy industrialised nations such as the US and the UK to set a clear example on cutting carbon emissions to check the temperature rise.
Despite fears of a fiasco in Copenhagen, COP15's chances of success have improved after US President Barack Obama said that his country intends to achieve an 80 percent reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.
Leemann's team began their expedition to hightlight its threat from temperature rise, it was a message loud and clear to the climate change negotiators.
"The condition of the river (the Ganges) is seriously sick as we've seen big industrial houses and many agricultural fields emitting chemical discharge to this holy river, considered India's lifeline," says Ganges Expedition project manager Helge Bendl.
"The river could become a major destination for sustainable tourism if all action plans are finally put into action and the river is cleaned up …but the knowledge to save the unique bio-diversity with animal like Gangetic dolphins has to be proven successful," he says.
Ganges River Dolphin (Indus River Dolphin), primarily found in the Ganges and Brahmaputra river, is considered one of the most endangered species in the world as it witnessed a worrying decline in past few years. Experts opine that a clean Ganga could increase the presence of dolphins in the holy river.
"It's good to see that species like the Ganges River Dolphin still survive in this river. We saw it in many places while travelling on our boats. Some of us also dived into the river," team members say.
According to reports say the Gangotri glacier, which is at 3400 metres above sea level, is retreating with a rate of 34 metre per annum, which is almost double compared to the speed between 1935 and 1971. That time the glacier was retreating with a rate of about 19 metres per year.
The World Bank has sanctioned US$ 1 billion loan for the purpose cleansing the Ganges.
India has already spent Rs.960 crore in past 22 years under the Ganga Action Plan-I and II and as the river still remains dirty, the government had approached the World Bank to rejuvenate the river. |
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