Support The Film On Mother Ganga

“From Saviour to Seeker- The story of Mother Ganga” (tentative title)" will be the first documentary of its kind which is aimed at systematic and analytical depiction of various aspects and issues associated with Ganges such as geographical, historical, biological, religious, economical and social. It will be a detailed analysis of its slow death we are seeing now which includes factors responsible for degradation of the river, efforts so far to save the river, possible solutions taking into consideration some examples of river cleaning around the world. 

The film will cover the 2620 km long Ganges and its issue in different ways to have a complete view. It will cover the river drainage from start to end, starting from the Gangotri glacier and its dispersion with its major tributary Hooghly before pouring into the Bay of Bengal. The film will deal with issues which are associated with the river such as pollution, illegal mining, minimum environmental flow, sewage management, industrial waste management, agriculture, dependent human population, effect of dam construction, deforestation, sensitivity of Himalayan ecosystem, four lane road construction in the river valley, increased floods and landslides, aquatic life etc. The film will include the perspectives of various field experts like geologist, sociologists, scientists, policy makers, concerned authorities, NGOs and common people.

Objective of the documentary film- To delve deep into the complete ecology of the river through the documentary film and highlight the facets of degraded state of the river with an aim of spreading awareness and to galvanize a mass movement to take the right steps to save the river.
 

(We have covered 25% of the shoot of the film and have come up with a trailer as well. We lack funds to complete the film and seek your support to help us make this project possible and successful. Please support us with your generous donations! )



Some Important Issues the film will cover  which are affecting the ecosystem of the river
 

• The Holy Water of Ganges and its Current State- The Himalayas are home to innumerable herbs and medicinal plants which have the quality of curing terminal diseases. The Ganges originates from the Himalayas so it carries these medicinal properties in it. Moreover, various studies carried out on the river Ganges suggest that it is able to reduce its biochemical oxygen demand much faster than other rivers. The self purifying capacity of Ganges is due to its ability to retain high level of oxygen from the environment. Hence, Ganges water is revered as Holy not only religiously but also scientifically. Ironically, this life giving river whose water was once used for medicinal purpose has been abused to the extent that it is not even safe for bathing anymore due to high level of faecal coliform level and industrial non biodegradable contamination.

• Pollution- Various reports depict the high level of pollution in the river caused by the discharge of industrial effluents, urban sewage and domestic wastes. The water is not useful for drinking or bathing. Inorganic agricultural practices such as use of pesticides, insecticides, urea add to the pollution of the river. The Ganges has become one of the most polluted rivers in the world.

• E flow- Minimum environmental flow in the river is not maintained as maximum water is diverted through canals for agricultural use. It hampers the self cleaning capacity of the river and also affects the flora and fauna of the river. The self cleaning capacity of a river depends on the amount of water flowing in the river. Lesser volume of flowing water in the river which itself is polluted causes high BOD, COD and lesser amount of Dissolved Oxygen.

• Dams-The Ganges has both embankment and run of the river hydropower projects on its main tributaries i.e. Bhagirathi and Alaknanda. Embankment dams cause severe instability in the river valley and increase floods. Run of the river projects, which are considered to be of lesser environmental damage, are causing water diversion and less water flow in the river, which affects the aquatic life of the river and is the reason for habitat fragmentation. 

• Illegal Mining- Extensive and uncontrolled excavation of river bed rocks is quite prevalent on the foothills of the Himalayas where the Ganges reaches the plain i.e. Haridwar. This illegal activity is severely damaging the river bed as the excavated natural rocks from the river cannot be replenished. 

• Drying up of springsheds- Himalayan springs are drying up. These springs are one of the main sources of water in Ganges. This phenomena causes water crisis in the hilly villages and also accounts to low or no flow in many patches of the river.

• Deforestation- Trees are being cut extensively for construction of roads, dams and hydropower projects. This leads to the increased instability of the Himalayas and rapid soil erosion.

• Natural Hazards- The most destructive effect of these anthropological interventions in the river valley is that natural hazards have increased with more severity. In 2013, flash flood in Indian state of Uttarakhand killed more than 5000 people and it was basically caused by the dams obstructing the way of the river during heavy rain. 

• River as an ecosystem- Ganges is not a single river. Its drainage consists of many tributaries and it is home to innumerable species of flora and fauna which together build up a large ecosystem. Considering Ganges only as an energy and water resource has resulted in its present degraded form. Within the waters of Ganges and its tributaries, there are endangered Gangetic Dolphins, turtles, Mugger and crocodiles living in its waters, as well as the Bull shark and the critically endangered Gangetic shark down near the Bay of Bengal. The Gangetic ecosystem is disturbed, unbalanced and decaying rapidly due to continued and uncontrolled human interventions.
 

• Impact on Life around Ganges basin- Due to heavy metal pollution caused by Arsenic, Mercury, Chromium etc., Ganges water poses significant threats to human health and many studies suggest that it has become a deadly source of cancer and a serious threat to aquatic ecosystem.

• Social Impact- Due to dam constructions on various locations on the river, many villages around it are displaced and no proper resettlement is being carried out for them. They are being disowned from their own lands for the sake of energy requirement.

Frequently Asked Questions-
 

1. Why are you making this documentary film?

Ganga, the mother of India nourishes around 40% of India’s population and it has a vast religious importance. Ironically, India has abused it to an alarming extent. The cleanliness of Ganga is an issue in every election but we as Indians are not really aware why the river couldn’t be cleaned so far and where the funds go. The film will be an eye-opener for Indians who deserve to know about every struggle of the river, the reason it’s far from clean even after expenditure of 8000 crore of funds in the past 33 years, the question mark on real intention of the government and the possible solutions to clean it. 

2. How the documentary “Saviour to Seeker – The story of mother Ganga” is different from the other documentaries which have been made on Ganga?

Other major documentary films that have been made on Ganga river doesn’t highlight the major reason of its current condition. Documentaries made by BBC, Nat Geo, Doordarshan and many others either highlights its religious importance or other aspects in a small detail. “Saviour to Seeker” will be a complete film on Ganga, it will cover every possible aspect of the river from historical, geographical, religious and biological; it will be a detailed analysis of its slow death we are seeing now.

3. How this documentary will help Ganga?

The objective of the film is global awareness and then start a public campaign to save the mother of India. Indians today are not aware about the medicinal and healing properties of the Ganga water which many scientific studies have proved. We as Indians need to educate ourselves about the heritage we possess instead of believing that it’s sacred only because of its religious importance. The documentary will help Indians and others to understand the whole ecology of Ganga in a detailed manner.

4. What after the film?

We will do the extensive screenings of the film on national and international platforms which will educate maximum number of people about the current situation of the river, the factors responsible for it and also the possible solutions to it, which media has highlighted only with limited aspects. The general public needs to come up with the questions which they are not asking at the moment. Furthermore, the only term we come up with when the question of clean Ganga comes is “pollution”, which alone is not responsible for its condition. The film will help change the perspective of general crowd about the issue.

5. How much time will take to finish the film?

If we are able to raise the needed budget, it will take us 5 months after that to complete the film.

6. What would be the length of the film?

The film will be a feature length (52 minutes or above) documentary film.

 


Note- We will make the film in such a quality that we can be able to pitch the film to Netflix, BBC, History, Discovery etc.

Here's a quick update