Manoj Kumar Misra, the defender of Yamuna and many other rivers too, is no more. He passed away on June 4 after battling Covid-19 for nearly two months, at a time when many of us thought that the pandemic is over and done with.
Though a forester by profession — he spent 22 years in the Indian Forest Service in the undivided Madhya Pradesh — protection of rivers became his mission. With Manoj, his passion for rivers was infectious. As convenor of Yamuna Jiye Abhiyan he used everything at his disposal to protect the Yamuna: from writing in conventional and social media, making various representations, conducting awareness programmes, reaching out to riverine communities to taking up litigation in the National Green Tribunal (NGT).
It was due to his constant efforts since 2011 that the NGT gave the 2015 verdict that led to the Nirmal Yamuna Rejuvenation plan. In March 2016, Manoj took on the three-day World Cultural Festival on the flood plains of Yamuna, taking the matter to the NGT, which formed a Supervisory Committee headed by this writer (Shashi Shekhar), based on whose report the NGT imposed a fine of ₹5 crore for the pollution and damage caused by the event. Perhaps even more significant was Manoj’s enormous contribution to drafting the Subordinate Legislation on Ganga, which provides the legal framework for the river even today.
Manoj helped the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) draft the first set of rules for River Regulation Zones. He questioned locating hydro-power projects in the eco-fragile Himalayas and was a vocal critic of the newfound imagination of river beautification in the form of river front developments in the urban stretches of our rivers, which adversely impacted the integrity of river systems.
When I (Shashi Shekhar) was Additional Secretary, MoEF, devastating floods and landslides occurred in and around Kedarnath in June 2013. The Supreme Court appointed the Ravi Chopra committee to specifically look into the relationship between construction of hydro-power projects and the Kedarnath tragedy. As Secretary, I had to submit an affidavit in the Supreme Court. The inputs provided by Manoj were very crucial in preparing the affidavit, which has helped to a great extent in stopping further reckless construction in Uttarakhand. There are many such occasions when Manoj has provided insights to those who are in government so that they can take an informed position. I call these as examples of ‘activism from inside’ and ‘activism from outside’ coming together to produce positive results.
It was his passion for rivers that drove him, along with a few others, to set up India Rivers Forum (IRF) in 2014. IRF is an active network of organisations and individuals dedicated to the rejuvenation and restoration of rivers. Manoj was the one who held it all together.
Manoj Misra’s inputs into draft National Water Policy 2020
Manoj provided substantive inputs into the draft National Water Policy 2020 prepared by the Mihir Shah committee. Both of us were also members of this committee. His presentation before the committee and the note he submitted provided us glimpses of his worldview around rivers and their governance. He believed in the existential rights of rivers. He held that healthy rivers are essential for water security of the country. For him protection and restoration of rivers is a Constitutional duty of citizens as well as the state.
He was against destructive interventions on rivers, such as channelisation and straightening of river meanders and concretisation and artificial beautification of urban stretches in the name of river front development. All these play havoc with river morphology, biodiversity and aquifer linkages.
One of his crucial suggestions to the committee was to make river basins as units of developmental planning so that the integrity of basins is kept in mind during the planning stage itself. He argued for legislative support for river rejuvenation in the form of a comprehensive framework River Basin Rejuvenation law. He wanted the new national water policy to make a paradigm shift in river management with the focus being changed from ‘River Development’ to ‘River Conservation and Rejuvenation’.
A vocal critic of the Ken Betwa river linking project
He was a critic of the Interlinking of Rivers (ILR) project and especially the Ken Betwa link project. The Forum for Policy Dialogue on Water Conflicts in India wrote a letter to the Prime Minister on January 21, 2022, as the cabinet committee headed by the PM cleared the project. Manoj, a Steering Committee member of the Water Conflicts Forum, coordinated its engagement on this. He drafted the letter to the PM.
His main contention in the letter was that the Ken Betwa link project is illegal and a lose-lose proposition. He primarily used the findings of the Central Empowered Committee constituted by the Supreme Court to draft this letter.
Manoj cited three main arguments. One, the Wildlife Clearance granted by the Standing Committee of NBWL is illegal. Two, the project would sound the death knell of the Panna Tiger Reserve. Three, there are cheaper, faster and more sustainable alternatives to the project available. To develop such an alternative, Manoj helped bring together a few concerned organisations and experts. Unfortunately, this remained an unfinished task.
Wildlife @ 50 and Water Tales
Manoj brought out the edited book, Wildlife @ 50: Saving the Wild, Securing the Future, in 2022 coinciding with 50 years of the enactment of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972. It captures India’s 50-year wildlife journey through the eyes and experiences of a diverse set of authors. Just before he passed away, he was in the midst of editing a book on water which he tentatively titled as ‘Water Tales: 50 Years of Water Stewardship in India.’ He got 30-odd authors to contribute. His aim was to get it published in 2024 on the 50th anniversary of the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act 1974.
Coincidentally, Manoj died on the same day when a Yamuna Sansad (Yamuna parliament) was organised in Delhi. What his family wrote on his Twitter handle in Hindi to break the sad news of his passing away is very telling. Translated it reads, “I may or may not be there. But I will continue to emit my fragrance”. Yes, Manoj, we need your fragrance and much more to take forward the legacy that you have left behind.
K.J. Joy is part of SOPPECOM and the Forum for Policy Dialogue on Water Conflicts in India; Shashi Shekhar is former Secretary, Ministry of Water Resources, Government of India
