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| Ban Ganga ‘shrinks’, disappointing pilgrims | | |
EARLY TIMES REPORT
KATRA, Apr 16: The water level in the Ban Ganga rivulet here has come down drastically, making it look dry at several places. This has brought disappointment to thousands of Vaishno Devi pilgrims, who take a holy dip in the rivulet to wash off their sins.
The Ban Ganga is a holy rivulet because it meanders around the highly reverred cave shrine of Mata Vaishno Devi in Trikuta Hills. Pilgrims, who come for the darshans of the goddess, also take a holy dip in it.
While some attribute this to development activities, others say there was nothing to get worried about it as things were likely to improve with a good monsoon.
The rivulet originates from a 200-ft-high cliff in the Samkhal area. "As the Samkhal pond is almost dry in the absence of rains, the Ban Ganga is also drying up," assistant CEO of Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board (SMVDSB), P B Gupta said.
"We are, however, optimistic that there will be a good rainfall this year and expect things to improve," he added.
However, Mangar Singh, who owns a hotel in Katra town, said: "I am saying this with a very heavy heart that Ban Ganga is virtually dead. I have been living here for the last 30 years and this is the first time when there is less water in the river."
"Earlier, the river used to overflow between September and April but now its condition has turned dismal. There is hardly any water flowing in Ban Ganga," he said.
Samkhal is five kilometres from Adh Kunwari - half way between Katra town and Vaishno Devi shrine.
According to Hindu mythology, when demon Bhairon Nath chased goddess Vaishnavi, she ran towards Trikuta Hills and on the way, she felt thirsty and shot an arrow into the ground and the river was formed. Concerns have been raised over ecological degradation on the Trikuta mountain range due to a huge influx of Vaishno Devi pilgrims and alleged felling of trees.
Another SMVDSB official said, "Brisk development activities on the 13-km track from the Katra base camp to the cave shrine have been posing an ecological threat to the Trikuta hills and the biggest challenge before the board is to maintain the ecological balance." Every year more than six million pilgrims visit this shrine and to provide accommodation to these devotees, rampant construction has been going on which has, in turn, led to deforestation.
"See the level of development that has taken place in the area in the last 10 years. For development works, we need to cut mountains and fell a large number of trees - which is bound to disturb the ecological balance in the hilly area," a senior board official said.
Even pilgrims are disappointed at the condition of the Ban Ganga river. "I visit Vaishno Devi twice a year during Navratras but this time I am really disheartened to see the holy river running dry," Neha Bhaumik, said Sudama, a pilgrim from Bihar.
Another devotee Arjun Nath said, "I remember bathing in Ban Ganga every time we used to come to Vaishno Devi and I am very isappointed to see that there is hardly any water in the river. The river has mythological significance add eco-friendly steps should be taken to restore it."
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