Sadhguru hopeful of national policy to revitalise rivers

The ‘Rally for Rivers – India’s Lifelines’ campaign may soon lead to the formulation of ‘River Revitalisation Policy’, Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev of Coimbatore-based Isha Foundation has said.

The spiritual leader, who hails from Mysuru, said all the states and the Union government should formulate the river policy for the welfare of people, especially farmers.

“Following the public demand across Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and Karnataka, where I have already travelled since September 3, I have had to make several unscheduled stops on my way as people wanted to meet me and extend their support for the campaign. I started from Coimbatore on September 3 and my journey will last up to the foot of the Himalayas. I would reach New Delhi on October 2 after passing through 16 states. I would submit the draft policy to the Centre on October 2 which would be made public later seeking feedback and suggestions.

The draft has been prepared by the Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, in association with the National Institute of Hydrology, Roorkee, and numerous scientists,” he said.

He said an attempt was made about 15 years ago to formulate a river policy but as most of the states did not cooperate, it did not materialise. “But now, the chief ministers of 16 states would be convinced to support the movement before the draft is submitted to the Centre. Hopefully this time, the policy would become a reality. If the policy had been announced 15 years ago, it would have taken just about one-tenth of the efforts needed now to yield the results. If the policy is further delayed, it will need more efforts and the results will be delayed accordingly,” he said.

He performed puja to River Cauvery at Meenakshipura, in Mysuru taluk, near the backwaters of the Krishnaraja Sagar (KRS) dam. A delegation of farmers from Tamil Nadu had accompanied him and they had a cordial meeting with farmers here, including Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha leader and MLA K S Puttannaiah. Puttannaiah is also the convenor of Cauvery Family, formed by the Madras Institute of Development Studies (MIDS), to promote cordial relations between farmers of the two riparian states.