The cases of erupting nuisances in Rishikesh and Haridwar have risen over the years. This is very saddening to see the sorry state of the places where Ganga flows in its full beauty and essence. Hindu worships the river Ganga, believing the river to be auspicious. Ganga Arti in Rishikesh and Haridwar are also popular among the masses. However, over the years, the popularity of Rishikesh has been risen due to other reasons as well, mainly the rise of craze for the adventure sports.
Rishikesh is famous for its adventure sports and rafting remain favorite among the tourists. Over the years, there is a huge increase of tourists in Rishikesh, and rafting indeed a driving force, especially among the young masses. Thousand of tourists from all over India and abroad are landing up on Rishikesh. And specially Rishikesh became an easy call for the people, from near places like Haryana, Delhi and UP. On Weekends, Rishikesh mostly bursts out with tourists.
During daytime, it is a common sight to see rafts all over Ganga, floating, swinging, rising- falling over river. Despite of the guidelines of Uttarakhand Tourism Ministry on specific number of rafts at a time, it seems, guidelines do not matter. They say, when it comes to money, only money matters. It is usual to see the traffic of rafts floating at a time. Due to which, the collision between the rafts is natural.
On 20 May, the video of people on rafts fighting was viral in social media.
The fight started after collision of the rafts. In the fight, these people were hitting each other with paddles and seen abusing each other. SSP Tehri ordered SHO, Muni ki Reti to take an immediate action on the case. The SHO, Muni ki Reti, Mukesh Shah said that such incident has happened for the first time. However, it seems not absolutely true because in the past also, we have observed such incidences, probably during rafting, it was for the first time, such incident has been circulated through social media.
Is there anyone to Control the Increase of Burden on Ganga River? On 20 May, the video of people on rafts fighting was floating in social media. The fight started after collision of the rafts. @AshokKumar_IPS @raverrafting @pushkardhami pic.twitter.com/zUb6udyesJ
— jagritimedia.com (@jagriti23091982) May 21, 2023
Ganga is a source of income to many, which at certain extent is fine. However, we need to decide the limit. Unfortunately, due to commercialization, it seems that everyone is just busy minting money over Ganga. We (Govt., administrative bodies, locals, citizens) all need to be cautious over the increase of such incidences. We all need to take action to protect our places, and their cultural values.
