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| Taushi: The Tawi too longs for her Eco -Baba | | | Bhushan Parimoo
Taushi, the Tawi, too
longs for Eco -Baba of her own. Is there anybody among her beneficiaries to volunteer? As the number of her beneficiaries rums in to millions directly or indirectly, who will initiate and execute the Seechewal model to rejuvenate and retrieve her from choking death to its pristine glory before it reaches the point of no return. Water relation is thicker than blood relation. Only a miracle by a Baba can save it. However that is hoping against hope.
Dogras of Duggar Desha shall have no dearth in finding not one but plenty. One only needs an initiative. Taushi's yearning desire and call is not something new or beyond means and reach. But determination to save her for our own cause can show the results. It is Taushi's benevolence that the Dogras have achieved great eminence of glory in the field of culture, literature and on the battle fronts; and above all, compassion and humanity. But alas! Tawi river is in distress. All the while it has been warning us loud and bold: Save your souls. Nothing will there be for you, leave alone the future generations.
Sant Balbir Singh Ji,is widely popular as "Eco-Baba" and "Welfare Baba" in India and abroad who has put whole government and civil society to shame by selfless work to rejuvenate the 160-kilometre Kali Bein - a rivulet of the Beas in the Doaba region of Punjab. He mobilized people (Sangat) round the globe for the voluntary kar sewaks. When Sant Seechewal began the kar sewa in July 2000, the Kali Bein river was on the verge of death due to worst type of all kind known pollution. Volunteers cleared hyacinth and silt out of the bed of river, restored flow of clean water in it and beautified it with flowers and fruit trees, bathing ghats and bricked roads on its banks, transforming it into a picnic spot where the religious pilgrims, students and tourists from India and abroad come daily in large numbers to have a glimpse of its beauty.
Not only did they clean it up and rejuvenate some parts of the river which had been dry for many years, but the team also worked hard to beautify the banks by planting trees.
With restoration of its water flow, thousands of hectares of land have been reclaimed from water-logging in Tehsil Dasuya of Hoshiarpur District, from desertification in Kapurthala district, and from floods in the Mand area of confluence of Beas and Satluj rivers. Seechewal, along with his team, also made sure that the people around the area were made aware of the ill effects of dumping waste in the river.
Sant Seechewal's works don't stop there. He has also been involved in setting up schools, technical centres and degree colleges, and also works toward eradicating poverty, ignorance, superstition, and atrocities against women. A crusader for environment, Sant Seechewal has established plant nurseries at Seechewal and Sultanpur Lodhi where one lakh plants are distributed annually free of cost among the people as prasad of the Guru.
Tawi is almost of same length a 171 kms. Tawi has played a fundamental role in the lives, history and culture of the Dogras and their civilization for thousands of years over its banks from its origination till it gets merged with Chenab. It attracted settlers from far and wide and grew as important habitats know all over for its valour rich culture.
It has been till late providing a basic natural resource, essential for various human activities. Dr. A.P.J. Kalam was justified when he expressed his views that every state of India needs Seechewal a he was refereeing to Sant Seechewal Another miraculous Baba known as 'Pulanwala Baba' Sant Baba Labh Singh. now in his nineties, has already constructed six such bridges, including five on the Sutlej in the surrounding areas of Anandpur Sahib and one over the Ghaggar in Fatehabad district of Haryana without any help from the state governments.
Sant Baba Labh Singh has put government machinery to shame: he is constructing yet another bridge, this time linking Shahpur Bela village with Bunga Sahib-Nurpur Bedi road, a demand that Bela villagers have raised for over a decade. Cut off during rains, the village has had to depend on an unreliable boat that ferries them across the swollen river. A 500-ft bridge is being built on the Sutlej by Sant Labh Singh at Shahpur Bela village near Kiratpur Sahib.
Five years on, Gurpal Singh of Shahpur Bela village blames himself for his inability to take his sister to a hospital in time. The rising Sutlej had turned the village into an island when Gurdeep Kaur suffered a heart attack. Trapped in the village, she died in the absence of medical attention. This was not an isolated incident for the 250 residents of the village, situated hardly 3 km from Ropar-Manali highway near Bunga Sahib. Last year, the only boat available in the village capsized following a high tide, putting life of several school children in danger. Things might change for this village. Sant Baba Labh Singh (Kila Anandgarhwale) has taken up the work to construct a bridge connecting the village with Bunga Sahib-Nurpur Bedi road.
Baba, now in his nineties, has already constructed six such bridges, including five on the Sutlej in the surrounding areas of Anandpur Sahib and one over the Ghaggar in Fatehabad district of Haryana without any help from the state governments. A 670-feet bridge at nearby Burj village, opened for public on February 13, has reduced the distance between several villages and Anandpur Sahib from 22 to a mere 7 kilometres.
His efforts to provide easy connectivity to villages have earned him the sobriquet of 'Pulanwala Baba'. Baba's list of such works is long. Beside construction and restoration of 259 buildings of religious places, he has built buildings of 29 schools, including government schools. He has organized marriages of over 400 girls from poor families. Shelter is provided to nearly 1,000 people including patients and their attendants at a gurdwara being run by Baba Labh Singh at PGI, Chandigarh. Gurpal said it was in August 2010 when the village was surrounded by the overflowing Sutlej. Her sister had to be rushed to a hospital after a heart attack. The family members tried to shift her using a lone boat but failed to reach the hospital in time as the boat was damaged in an accident. The Sutlej branches out near the village, merging again on the other side, turning the village into an island during monsoon.
"We send our children and expectant women to other villages during monsoon to avoid tragedy in case of an emergency," said Balwinder Singh. Even people avoid marrying off their daughters in this village because of such living conditions, he said. For over a decade local residents have repeatedly requested politicians as well as bureaucrats that a bridge linking them with the nearby Bunga Sahib-Nurpur Bedi road is their only hope. Nothing happened, except that former MLA Ramesh Dutt Sharma arranged a boat nearly 10 years ago, said Harjaap Singh, a village farmer. Then the local residents approached Baba Labh Singh who immediately agreed to construct the bridge investing his money and expertise. The locals contribute by providing manpower and meals to the labourers. Every day four families send one person each to work on the site. Those who can not provide manpower are asked to bear the expenses for a labourer on the day of their turn. Similarly, families take turns to provide meals to those working at the site, said village sarpanch Davinder Singh. "The estimated cost of the 500-ft bridge coming up at Shahpur Bela is over Rs 8 crore," said foreman, popularly known as Kamal Mistri, who supervises the construction and drawings for laying the concrete slabs and approach roads. Kamal has no formal degree in civil engineering.
He says before joining Baba Labh Singh, he had been working with government contractors. Labh Singh (92) has been following in the footsteps of Sant Sewa Singh who had been performing kar seva at various gurdwaras, temples and schools since 1934. After his death in 1982, Bhag Singh and Labh Singh decided to continue the work. Bhag Singh died in 1987. It is because of people like Baba Labh Singh that the life of people is a little more comfortable. Sant Baba Malkiat Singh, popularly known as Bridge Baba, had built many roads and bridges in Khiala village near Jalandhar. Like the socially spirited Babas of the Punjab, Taushi too needs its own Eco-Baba. Dogras think; why Jammu cannot become like Punjab. It is only awaiting for him. |
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