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Rally for Rivers From Isha Foundation

Abstract: Sadhguru, the founder of Isha Foundation, has laid a lot of emphasis on saving Indian Rivers through tree plantation. In this direction, he launched the Rally for Rivers social campaign. This movement envisages saving the Indian rivers through the participation of every Indian to pledge their voice in amending a government policy for these waterways. A lot of suspicions prevails over the success of this campaign, as many are arguing that until the attitude and mentality of people change no drive can clean Indian rivers. Agriculture is the backbone of Indian economy, river water is the backbone of agriculture. Water is a natural resource, a crucial necessity to all living things. India is blessed with enormous water resources covering all four cardinal directions. One such example is the presence of world’s second tastiest waters of the Siruvani River in Coimbatore (Anon, 2017). “Water problem” is vast ‘a big threat and crosscut problem in India’ and all across the globe. Due to hectic population increase, the drinking water consumption and also the decreased rainfall due to global warming and climate change, the water situation is becoming a crucial one to address in India. Consequently, in this paper, we will be discussing some significant issues related to cleanliness and saving river waters. Also on the same line, we will consider the effectiveness and optimisation of this social campaign by the Isha Foundation. “Social marketing is an approach used to develop activities aimed at changing or maintaining people’s behaviour for the benefit of individuals and society as a whole” A snippet on Isha Foundation: Isha Foundation is founded by Sadhguru in the year 1992, it is a volunteer-run and an international non-profit organization dedicated to cultivating human potential. This foundation is a human service organisation that recognises the possibility of each person to empower another - restoring global community through inspiration and individual transformation. Purpose of Rally for Rivers campaign: Indian society had low attitudes against manual labour for ages, that has led to lack of cleanliness in India. Tourists who have been to India can quickly label India as a dirty and

polluted country. This embarrasses a lot of educated Indians, it is a fact that cannot escape. The unfortunate thing is that India’s dirtiness cannot be written off due to its poverty, as there are plenty of other economically developing countries cleaner than India (Akhilesh P, 2017). Keeping these facts, Sadhguru launched the Rally for Rivers campaign on September 3rd, 2017. The founder, Mr.Sadhguru rallied across 23 states in India to raise awareness to people and staged demonstrations for the need of saving the Indian rivers. Though the financials behind this campaign is private, Rally for Rivers campaign aims to set up trees near to the Indian rivers which cover cities, smaller towns, and rural areas. The primary objectives include the individual participation of citizens by giving a missed call to a number to pledge their voice towards the government to implement a river policy. Also, the campaign aims at reviving the rivers through tree plantation (Isha, 2017) Primary Focus of this campaign The campaign addresses two issues, to restore dying rivers of India and also to plant trees near to the banks of the rivers. Riverbanks filled with garbage: ‘The subcontinent of garbage’ (BRICS, 2017)– this is how India is portrayed when compared with other countries; Many Indian houses are methodically cleaned. Yet right outside of their home, there are filthy streets with mountains of waste. This shows that the public space is an ideology in Indian society that has traditionally been absent. People in India have usually stuck to their family and community, of which there are around 10,000 people. These groups and communities are the only mediums through which most of them have social interaction. Hence, the concept of a shared public sphere, used by everyone and kept clean to everyone was not one to take hold in society. However, with the population of India on the rise, this behaviour has to be changed, as more people mix and assemble the waste in urban areas (Akhilesh, 2017)

Figure 1: Depletion of Rivers, Source: Isha Foundation In India, river pollution has crossed the threshold limit (Mother Ganga, 2017). The Three essential river systems of India; in the northern region; rivers like Indus, Ganga, and the Brahmaputra are suffering from chemical infection and pollution. These river systems originate from the snow peaks of Himalaya mountains are the primary basis of prosperity for India in different forms. Freshwater is only 2.7 percent out of total water available in nature. The remaining 97.3 percent is saline water. Out of the full freshwater (Howard Perlam, 2017) 2.7%, 0.003 percent water exists in rivers, whose total volume is 108 cubic km. In the southern part of India, the situation is even worse; rivers Godavari, Cauvery, Krishna, and Mahanadi are highly polluted. Rivers of India are no more rivers but have been converted into filthy drains. A dense population is settled near the banks of rivers Ganga, Yamuna, Damodar, Hooghly, Cauvery, Godavari and Chambal. The pollution level on these rivers and lakes is no small extent. People living in these lakes and rivers have poor literacy rate, and the waste is often dumped into rivers. Accordingly, capital of India, New Delhi is situated on the banks of Yamuna River and on the east cardinal Kolkatta located on the banks on Ganga River, both these river streams are considered sacred by the Hindus. Late prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru even mentioned River Ganga as the ‘lifeline of India'(Ganges, 2017). Sadly, even approaching near to riverbank is an unpleasant experience for all. These ‘sacred waters’ smell like an old gutter. Nothing, except harmful bacteria, which has lived in this river for a long time (BRICS,2017). The study shows that these streams are categorised into grade four(The Economist, 2008) which is unfit for bathing and drinking for humans. Of course, a massive amount of the river waters are depleting due to the global warming and farmers face death wrath due to draining river bodies. Population Growth and Deforestation Deforestation or cutting of trees has become a favourite hobby of humans to extract for their timely needs- be it for medicines or for toilet papers to waste. For obvious reasons, it is shameful to read the statistics on how man has been, especially when it comes to deforestation. The study estimates that within 100 years there will be no rainforests across the world (Conserve Energy for Future, 2017).

Figure 2: Growth of Bengaluru Another real-time example of the exponential population growth (World population, 2017) and deforestation is the IT capital of India, Bengaluru. For Once, Bengaluru is known as the garden city of India, but now with the increase in real estate due to jobs in all sectors the garden city is oozing out with overpopulation and traffic. The figure above clearly depicts the depletion of water bodies and vegetation areas in Bengaluru. Ironically, distance to reach a destination is measured by time, not in miles/kilometres. Target Audiences: The central aspect of this campaign on which the foundation has urged is the individual participation from citizens of India to pledge for their involvement to remain committed towards tree plantations and devote time to voluntary service. Reception of this campaign and impact through social media: The population of India is on the rise every year (Indian Youth, 2017). Fascinatingly, the country boasts of millennials and Gen Z’ers. In fact, as of June 2016, India’s millennial population and Gen Z population stands at 440 million and 390 million respectively. People see social media as a way to brag about their social image (LendEdu, 2017). Facebook is the leading social media platform among youngsters. The traffic to these social platforms is through smartphones. Fortunately, this campaign targetted them through facebook and twitter by holding hashtag. To raise awareness on river depletion, Isha foundation picturised a video centred on reviving the rivers and asked the people to join the campaign. The power of social media has led Indian expats settled across the world to join and support the campaign. With youngsters, these days being socially responsible promoted this campaign by encouraging it (Indian youth, 2017). Rally for Rivers was trending across India within a short span.

Facebook: When looked at the Social media presence and options of the target audiences in Facebook, The campaign has been received well by all age groups, Some of the key activities noted from the campaign’s official Facebook page are the regular updates on the drive and also educating the followers with facts. The Hashtag #RallyForRivers trended all over India within a short time from its inception. #RallyForRivers, As awareness about the campaign spread through positive word of mouth, more and more people indulged in cleanliness drives across their neighbourhoods.

Figure 3: Rally for Rivers Facebook page Any celebrity impact? India’s most celebrated cricketing icon, Mr Virendra Sehwag and Formula One racer Narain Karthikeyan are also active volunteers to this campaign. During the inception of this campaign, Sadhguru invited selected and respected old movie stars of India along with politicians to join the campaign. Stars are also looked as influencers and millennials see them as a source of inspiration regularly. This campaign struck the right chords since its inception Behaviour Objectives: Though many government officials are working on Saving the Ganges and the Environment Protection Act to make it achievable, people must also contribute by changing their behaviour and eliminate any unhealthy practice for the betterment of society. Sadhguru has asked the citizens not to litter nor let others scatter publicly. Right from the beginning, the campaign had asked everyone to initiate the quest for purity within themselves, their families, locality, village, and workplace.

Here are some methods that I feel that the campaign should also educate citizens about healthy practices. 1. To go organic, stop using plastics, reduce the carbon footprint, throw wrappers on dustbin only. There are numerous efforts the campaign can make and give contributions towards cleanliness of India. 2. Make citizens of India understand that they have some responsibilities towards India and cleanliness is one of them. We must practice it in our daily life. 3. Probability is there, if you do above two on a regular basis and show them your contribution towards swachh bharat/Clean India Mission, they 'll adopt it slowly and steady. 4. Educate them, a large part of India would be avoiding various health hazards, if we just give our genuine contribution towards Clean India Movement. 5. Current Government, through Clean India Movement, has urged every citizen to spend 100 hrs of the year towards the cleanliness program of India 6. Discussing with relatives/friends or even strangers to create awareness towards this significant programme 7. Educating a child for planting a tree and making our motherland clean.

Knowledge Objectives: Presence of Fluoride and chloride in water: Toxic chemicals like Fluoride and chloride are present in water due to non-availability of safe drinking water and farming has caused significant health-related issues in India. Importantly, In some parts of the country, the fluoride levels range from 1.0 mg/l to 48 mg (Gupta.S, 2012). There are thousands of villages in the disease-prone states in India experience health problems due to excess fluoride. States such as Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat & Rajasthan are severely hit due to fluoride toxicity, 70-100% of these districts contain high fluoride levels in food and water (Indian science, 2011). Consuming Fluoride causes dietary problems, as it provides 157 ppm of fluoride. One such example is the consumption of black rock salt (CaF2) commonly used as flavouring agents in Fast Food, savouries & homemade food which contribute to significant indigestion(Khurana. S, 2008).

Most Garbage Filled Metropolitan cities Below mentioned cities are tagged as the most garbage filled cities. Delhi stands first at 3.3 million tons of waste per year, followed by Mumbai at 2.7 million tons and Chennai produce 1.6 million tons, Hyderabad and Kolkata produce 1.4 million ton and 1.1 million tons respectively, these cities are also metropolitan cities. Sadly, there are fewer landfills to burn the waste and burning the waste also leads to toxic air making breathing uneasily for the nearby residents.

High levels of Carbon Monoxide:

Figure 4: Picture of India Gate at Delhi covered with smog

India stands as the world’s largest motor vehicle/car manufacturer in the world as of 2017 (Rafferty, 2017). People of India are more inclined towards the mileage of the car/bike. This factor is crucial for manufacturers as they have to compromise on the emission from the vehicle. India doesn’t have strict emission norms like in Europe. The above figure is a clear example of lousy emission norms and the effect of deforestation. At the end again this campaign specifies the importance of tree plantation. More the trees planted the levels of carbon monoxide can be reduced.

Belief Objectives: The primary objective of this campaign is to enhance the quality of human life in India. We can expect a rise in quality of life, water supply & quality and also an upward GDP of the Indian economy to grow as it increases the no of tourists. Better Quality of life for future generations: This campaign explains the need for water for the next generations. By Simply Planting trees across river banks and also at busy localities the quality of air can be increased. One such instance is the high levels o carbon monoxide in Delhi. Trees reduce the toxic content present in the air, which in turn provides better health for all the citizens. Increase in Water Quality and supply: There are several dry states in India where the only source of drinking water is from Rivers. For instance, in a small village of Palakkad, there were 27 families dependent on a single public tap. Hailing from India, I have seen and faced these water crisis during the summer. Kids and old people are the ones severely affected by the water shortage. With this campaign being successful then I strongly feel that the lack of water supply can be eliminated. Water quality has also become a severe issue. Over the past ten years, the number of cities and villages affected by water quality problems has risen. Albeit, the solutions are proving to be complicated due to the presence of Harmful substances such as arsenic, fluoride and even uranium in the groundwater and river water in some areas. Surprisingly, this campaign is all about planting trees near to the riverbanks, by doing so the groundwater of the surface levels can be increased. Tourism Attraction: Indian Prime Minister Mr Narendra Modi has directly linked cleanliness to the Indian economy. Indian boasts a wide array of unique travel destinations with rich cultural heritage. Traditionally, India has an ancient culture that left behind beautiful monuments and temples, archaeological sites. India is also endowed with natural and wildlife resources. Right from the beaches to the majestic mountains and hill stations, from rainforests to scintillating deserts, from bird sanctuaries to natural reservoirs,—the list is endless. In spite of the beautifully conceptualised global advertising campaign about Incredible India, India still has a meagre 0.64% of the total tourist arrivals worldwide (Creating Cleanliness, 2017).

Target Goal:

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Figure 5: Per Capita Water Availability

The primary objective of Rally for Rivers is to save Rivers. This social campaign is essential and need of the hour for Indians who consume water. In short, this campaign is for us so that we and our future generation can have water. We get water from rivers, and if these rivers are only drying then in future, we might not even have water to drink (Dubbudu. R, 2017)

Conclusion: Hailing from India, I cannot dismiss the raw truth from the above paragraphs, Saving the Rivers through Tree plantation is the need of the hour in India and also across the globe. Fortunate that the initiative has been raised and awareness has been spread across India through this campaign. The Success of this campaign apparently depends on the way people perceive and act upon this. Though the fulfilment of the objectives remains in the hands of ordinary man, I could see the campaign would bring some changes to the society. The target audience, citizens of India and the ISHA foundation, should join hands together and do tree plantations camps frequently as mentioned the portfolio. I could see the movement gaining pace day by day through the excellent use of the Social media channels. Prime Minister Modi has launched Clean India Movement, but the campaign doesn’t do anything similar to this. I strongly feel this campaign would be an enormous success in the coming years, as the need for water increases minute by minute. Myself would love to portray my country as Digital India and Clean India among others.

References: • •

Anon, (2017). Siruvani – The Sweet Pride of Coimbatore!. [online] Available at: http://thebridge.psgtech.ac.in/?p=2506 [Accessed 1 Dec. 2017]. Isha foundation

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Akhilesh Pillalamarri, T. (2017). Why India Is Dirty and How to Clean It. [online] The Diplomat. Available at: https://thediplomat.com/2014/10/why-india-is-dirty-and-how-to-clean-it/ [Accessed 5 Dec. 2017].

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Bricsmagazine.com. (2017). Is It Possible to Clean up India? — BRICS Business Magazine. [online] Available at: https://bricsmagazine.com/en/articles/is-it-possible-to-clean-up-india [Accessed 5 Dec. 2017]. Same as Reference 3

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U.S. (2017). Dying "Mother Ganga": India's holy river succumbs to pollution. [online] Available at: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-india-ganges/dying-mother-ganga-indias-holy-river-succumbs-topollution-idUSKBN19V0OG [Accessed 5 Dec. 2017]. Howard Perlman, U. (2017). How much water is there on Earth, from the USGS Water Science School. [online] Water.usgs.gov. Available at: https://water.usgs.gov/edu/earthhowmuch.html [Accessed 5 Dec. 2017]. l Indif.com. (2017). Ganges / Ganga - The Holy River of India. [online] Available at: http://www.indif.com/india/ganges.asp [Accessed 5 Dec. 2017]. Same as reference 4 A special report on India (2008) Creaking, groaning: Infrastructure is India’s biggest handicap. The Economist News in 11th December 2008. Conserve Energy Future. (2017). 51 Facts About Deforestation - Conserve Energy Future. [online] Available at: https://www.conserve-energy-future.com/various-deforestation-facts.php [Accessed 5 Dec. 2017]. Worldpopulationreview.com. (2017)] Available at: http://worldpopulationreview.com/worldcities/bangalore-population/ [Accessed 5 Dec. 2017] Indian Youth. (2017). Rising Population of India and Its Effects - Indian Youth. [online] Available at: http://www.indianyouth.net/rising-population-india/ [Accessed 5 Dec. 2017]. LendEDU. (2017). Millennials: Instagram the Most Narcissistic Social Media Platform - LendEDU. [online] Available at: https://lendedu.com/blog/millennials-instagram-narcissistic-social-mediaplatform/ [Accessed 5 Dec. 2017]. Indian Youth. (2017). Importance of social responsibility in youth - Indian Youth. [online] Available at: http://www.indianyouth.net/importance-social-responsibility-youth/ [Accessed 5 Dec. 2017]. Gupta S (2012) Drinking Water Quality: A Major Concern in Rural India (Some strategies towards cleaner water and the draft water policy-2012). BARNOLIPIAn Interdisciplinary Journal 1: 2249-2666. A Position Paper (2011) Hazardous metals and mineral pollution in India: Sources, toxicity, and manag...