Jigyasa Mishra

PARI Desk

Editor

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“We’ve done just two jobs – rowing and
fishing, for generations. I feel that given the current state of [un]employment,
my children will have to continue doing this,” says Vikramaditya Nishad. He has
been rowing pilgrims and tourists of Varanasi from one ghat  (bank) to another
on the river Ganga for the last 20 years.



Unemployment in Uttar Pradesh, through which
the Ganga flows for over a thousand kilometres, has stagnated in the last
five years at around 50 per cent, says the India Employment <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/library/resource/india-employment-report-2024-youth-employment-education-and-skills/">Report</a> 2024. 



“Modiji is campaigning for
‘Vocal for Local’ and ‘Virasat hi Vikas [Heritage
is development]’ . Please tell me
who is that virasat [heritage] for?
Is it us, the people of Kaashi [Varanasi] or outsiders?” he adds. Prime
Minister Narendra Modi was elected for a third time from Varanasi, and his
campaigning has left a bitter taste, says the boatman adding, “we must see the development.”

Nishad says the river cruises initiated by
Modi in January 2023 have robbed boatmen like him of their jobs. “In the name
of development, he [Modi] takes away the development and heritage of the locals
and gives it away to the outsiders,” he says, speaking of the non-locals who
have come in for the big infrastructure projects. An average worker in the
state is likely to earn a little over <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/library/resource/state-of-working-india-2023-social-identities-and-labour-market-outcomes/#section02">Rs. 10,000 a month</a><a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/library/resource/state-of-working-india-2023-social-identities-and-labour-market-outcomes/#section02">,</a> among the lowest for any state in the country. 



The pollution of the river,
considered to be the pinnacle of holy waters among Hindus, is another sore
point for the 40-year-old boatman. “They
say the Ganga water is clean now. Earlier if we dropped our coin in the river,
we could take it out due to its transparency, now even if someone falls and
drowns in the river, it takes days to find them,” he points out.

The Namami Gange Programme was started by the
union government in June 2014 with budget outlay of Rs. 20,000 crore to reduce
pollution, increase conservation and rejuvenate the Ganga. However, a 2017<a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/333220308_Water_Quality_Index_of_Ganga_River_Water_Rishikesh_Uttarakhand_India"> paper</a> notes that water quality index (WQI) at Rishikesh near its
source and hundreds of kilometres upstream of Varanasi is very poor. WQI
figures <a href="https://dst.gov.in/water-quality-lower-stretches-river-ganga-found-be-alarming-study">published</a> by the Department of Science and Technology, term it as
‘alarming’. 



“How can that cruise be the
‘heritage of Varanasi? Our boats are the face of heritage, the identity of
Varanasi,” he tells PARI, seated on his boat, waiting for tourists. “He got so
many ancient temples broken and made the Vishwanath Mandir Corridor. Earlier
when pilgrims visited Varanasi, they said they had to go to ‘Baba Vishwanath’. Now they say they have
to go to the ‘corridor’,” says a distressed Nishad, clearly unhappy at the
cultural changes thrust upon residents like him.

‘Our boats are the face of Varanasi’

’ہماری کشتی ہی بنارس کی پہچان ہے‘

‘మా పడవలు వారణాసి వారసత్వ సంపదకు ముఖాలు’

'வாரணாசியின் முகங்கள் எங்களின் படகுகள்தான்'

'ਵਾਰਾਣਸੀ ਦੀ ਪਛਾਣ ਹਨ ਸਾਡੀਆਂ ਬੇੜੀਆਂ'

‘ଆମ ଡଙ୍ଗା ବାରାଣାସୀର ମୁହଁ’

‘वाराणसीची खरी ओळख म्हणजे आमच्या नावा’

‘വാരാണസിയുടെ മുഖമാണ് ഞങ്ങളുടെ ബോട്ടുകൾ’

ʼನಮ್ಮ ದೋಣಿಗಳು ವಾರಣಾಸಿಯ ಗುರುತುʼ

‘અમારી હોડીઓ વારાણસીની ઓળખ  છે’

‘हमर डोंगा बनारस के चिन्हारी आय’

‘हमनी के नाव बनारस के पहचान बा’

‘আমাদের নৌকোই বারাণসীর পরিচয়’

‘আমাৰ নাওবোৰেই বাৰাণসীৰ পৰিচয়’

‘हमारी नाव ही बनारस की पहचान है’

Varanasi

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‘Our boats are the face of Varanasi’

Vikramaditya Nishad has been rowing his boat on the Ganga for two decades. He says the Prime Minister's renewed promises of heritage and development ring hollow for residents of the city

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