Many suggestions to a dry river

Never in the history has the Ramkund gone dry as it has been presently. There is no record whatsoever of the famous theertha having dried up completely. However, this year’s water scarcity has done what has never happened before. While pilgrims are disappointed, activists and purohits are busy suggesting solutions to the NMC to get water in the Ramkund.

The Ramkund  and the stream below till the Talkuteshwar temple is absolutely dry. The Nashik Municipal Corporation (NMC) has even cleaned its concretized surface so well that children took the rare chance of playing cricket in Ramkund. After the Talkuteshwar there is some stagnant water in the river which is now covered with planktons. Upstream too there is water in the river though it is not flowing. The central patch of the river flowing from the main city area is dry.

Kumbhmela

Thousands of devotees come to Nashik to take a bath in holy Ramkund, many others come there to perform the last rites of their kin. However, the empty Ramkund is a disappointment for all. Even though the main parvanis of the Kumbhmela are over, the celebration is year long and some important dates still will be observed as part of the Kumbhmela. Also there are a number of occasions throughout the month on which people take the holy bath in the Ramkund. For now all this has stopped.

Rituals

Those who come for the ritual have a tough time as they have to immerse the ashes. The asthikund where the ashes are immersed is some 7 – 8 feet deep with a natural spring and has little water in it. There are one or two springs emerging out from the steps and the Aruna river stream that emerges into the Ramkund from the Gomukh. Apart from these which only trickle down very little water, there is no water in Ramkund. Whatever trickles down is also not worth considering.

“The problem is concretization to the bed of the river done during the Kumbhmela in 2003. Unless this is removed, the natural springs will not open. They help in keeping water alive in the Ramkund. At such times of crisis the natural springs are the only source”, stated Satish Shukla, president of the Shree Ganga Godavari Panch koti Purohit Sangh, Nashik.

Shukla also suggests that there are three wells known as saat vihiri khol, by the Datta mandir below the Victoria bridge. These have been blocked as people drowned in those some time back. They can be opened up and water from them can be pumped in the river.

River dried up in 1877

The Nashik gazetteer mentions that the river had dried up in 1877, however even during that time the Laxman Kund adjacent to Ramkund had water from its natural sources. “It was not completely dry like now”, stated Devand Jani, an activist who has filed a PIL to remove the concrete on the bed of river Godavari flowing through the city and open the natural springs below it.

Jani states that Godavari has always been self reliant. There are many rivers that converge into it, many springs that provide water to the Ramkund. The dam has come much later and since then water is being released from the dam, stated Jani.

However with only 27% stock of water in the Gangapur dam, no water is being released as the stock is to be utilized for drinking water purposes till the monsoon. The NMC as it is, is facing a challenge in this regard.

Gandhi Talav

The stretch from Anandwalli to Gharpure ghat, above the Victoria bridge has some amount of stagnant water which has been held with water gates below the Victoria bridge. There is water in Gandhi Talav where the NMC conducts boating and now even women use the water for washing purposes, inspite of a ban on washing clothes in the river.

However, parallel to Gandhi talav the stream of the river below the bridge, that open into Sita Kund, Laxman Kund  and Ramkund is completely dry.

“This is because there are three gates below the bridge. Two of these are damaged and hence can't be opened. The third gate which can be opened has released water in Gandhi talav where it is held. We have requested the NMC to repair these gates and open the upstream water into the stream of Ramkund where it should be held. The water can also be lifted from Gharpure ghat by pump and released into the Ramkund. As is said that this water is very polluted and so it can be passed through a filtration plant used in the Kumbhmela of 2003”, Jani points out.

Solution

“The more permanent solution of course is to open the bed, remove the concrete and let the natural sources of water fill the Ramkund. The Aruna river that joins in Ramkund also needs to be rejuvenated”, he adds.

The NMC has left to the Purohit Sangh and people to suggest how the Ramkund can be filled with water in such a situation of crisis. Officials at NMC said that removing the concrete can take time and also it has to be confirmed where these natural springs are and if they have the flow to fill the Ramkund.