Showing the way, one river at a time
By Line: Riddhi Rastogi
Abhishek Singh Bias (age 32) and Chandraprabha Sharma (age 29) are engineers by training but they have found their true calling in saving the environment. They started the environmental NGO eArth Samvarta Foundation (eSF) three years ago with a vision to educate people about the dangers of climate change and also bring about necessary policy changes to protect our natural environment.
The impetus to start eSF came when their attention was drawn to the highly polluted Saryu river in the city of Ayodhya which was also Abhishek’s hometown. “People in Ayodhya don’t even know that the river flowing next to them has Gangetic dolphins in it,” he says, “then there are hundreds of gharials in danger. Sadly, we don’t even know what we are losing.”
Unlike most people who prefer to be armchair activists with only social media posts to show as their achievement, these two took it upon themselves the task of cleaning, restoring and reviving the heritage of Saryu.
They began with clean-up drives on the steps of Guptar Ghat (riverside) every Sunday under the ‘Swachch Saryu Abhiyan’ (Clean Saryu Campaign). Since Ayodhya is a centre for religious pilgrimage, the waste comprised mainly of ceramic sculptures and photo frames of deities. There was also a large amount of household waste in the river.
“Even the people of Ayodhya cooperated and participated widely in these drives, especially because this holy river is very important to them emotionally,” says Chadraprabha. The consistency of these drives has converted Saryu into a well-maintained and clean river today.
The duo has been able to inspire people to clean, reclaim and conserve the wetlands of Ayodhya. The importance of wetlands can be gauged from the fact that wetlands have 10 times better carbon sink than even dense forests.
“There was an entire wetland in the heart of Ayodhya that people didn’t know about because it was covered in trash and medical waste. It’s called the Lal Dighi pond.” This initiative uncovered not only groundwater but also precious bird life.
Waste management was the biggest challenge. “We think of many things like flowers and clay pots as bio-degradable but they are not.” Also, most of the religious idols are made using complex polymers that are toxic and find their way to landfills.
To ensure correct disposal and recycling of waste, eSF will operate the first Material Recovery Facility in Ayodhya, wherein their research team will implement innovative solutions for waste management.
They will be starting a rubble to brick facility which will convert construction and demolition waste, especially ceramic and cement, into bricks.
Another unique initiative has been to motivate and convince residents in adopting discarded religious statues. “We were worried about resistance initially, but people came forward and supported us. During the river clean-ups, they would take back an idol and re-establish it in their places of worship.”
At the same time, the focus is also on building awareness on segregation of waste at its source and reducing waste generation. ‘Saying no to plastics’ is also a big part of awareness campaigns by eSF.
The foundation has also carried out numerous plantation drives. 30,000 trees were planted in the first year itself and 50,000 more in the second year. “We were aspiring to reach the magic number of 1,00,000 by 2021 but that has taken a hit because of the pandemic,” they say.
They have also convinced the local government to include animal birth control in Ayodhya’s smart city development plan. One can wonder how this is connected to environment. “Well, if you have 50,000 dogs, six lakh cows and 25,00,00 monkeys excreting everywhere on the roads and around your homes, can you really call that city smart? It was a big challenge and we personally consider this policy inclusion as our biggest victory.”
Not just animal birth control, the foundation’s work covers several other areas like water scarcity, clean fuel and education. “All these fields are interconnected. You cannot address the issue of water scarcity or bio-degradable fuels without understanding the concept of women’s rights and welfare. For instance, if you don’t promote clean energy like clean gas, used by women in a cooking stove, you cannot look after women’s health who in rural areas, spend their maximum time in the kitchen. Taking up a lot of intersectionalities ensures that the development that happens is sustainable,” says Abhishek.
eSF ensures that it tackles every new problem that comes up, especially when it is related to environment. Case in point is the inflow of oxygen concentrators during the pandemic. “We are working on a policy to develop a system on how to distribute these concentrators across the country so that there is no surplus in any institution after the pandemic. A surplus is not an ideal scenario as they will just gather rust and become electronic waste. This policy will take into account the environmental impact of these machines.”
Another response to the pandemic has been to start ‘phoneshaala’, an audio service that provides free education for underprivileged children missing school due to Covid lockdowns. “These audio lessons focus a lot on environment protection and climate change along with regular lessons,” says Abhishek.
And even though they claim that they are “just a small organisation in a small city”, the fact is that any change starts with one small step. It’s going to be one river at a time and one city at a time. And that’s what eSF aims at.
Riddhi Rastogi, a student of grade XII and the editor-in-chief of Amity International School, Gurugram sector 43, a prime school in the state of Haryana, India. An enthusiastic reader, her pen finds passion in writing for social issues.
Socially conscientious, she tries to do her bit for the society wherever possible. She organised webinars on digital awareness and mental health during the pandemic as the Secretary of her school Interact Club (the school’s social welfare club). It is her interest in issues afflicting mankind at large that also make her a keen MUNer.
Other than writing, Riddhi is also extremely passionate about kathak, an Indian classical dance form that she has been learning professionally for almost 12 years now. She also runs a music channel on several social media platforms.
