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Breaking myths
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“Agony of Ganges” brings the pain of the river alive
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Muddy Waters The Ganga is no longer pure
Once the lifeline of the country, today the Ganga is facing a threat to its existence, ironically, from those who worship it. Iqbal Malhotra’s “Agony of the Ganges” brings the pain of the premier Indian river alive. A simplistic fil
m, it interweaves the faith and scientific aspects associated with the problem with ease.
“The idea came to my mind when I was judging one of the television awards. One of the short-listed films was on Ganga. I liked the subject but didn’t like the way it was projected. Ganga is seeped in the India psyche for a millennium, as it is associated with both birth and death. The common man still thinks the Ganga is pure. So I wanted to make a film for the mass audience which breaks the myth. That’s why we have used the bytes of Veer Bhadra Mishra, Mahant of Sankat Mochan Mandir, who accepts that the Ganga is receding and that there is E coli bacteria in the water,” says Iqbal who runs Aim Television, known for its travel shows like Namaste India.
The film says the combined impact of global warming, deforestation and rampant tourism has resulted in the glacier receding almost a kilometre in the last three years, and at this rate most of the glaciers in the Himalayas will melt away in the next 30 to 40 years. The issue of carbon emissions leading to global warming is controversy-ridden, as the developed world questions the development model of the third world countries without cutting down on emissions in its territory. Iqbal clarifies the film has no such agenda. “The film doesn’t question the development model of the country. Development must go on, but it should not be at the cost of the Ganga. The simple question is, where has the Rs. 18, 000 crore, which the government invested in the Ganga Action Plan, gone?”
Shot over six months, the film also documents the pollution created by sugar mills and leather factories in Meerut and Kanpur respectively, and how irregular irrigation is draining the Ganga of its wealth. Narrated by Roshan Seth, the English version lasts 52 minutes. Meanwhile, World Wildlife Fund India has taken the film for public screening in towns and villages.
ANUJ KUMAR
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