About Ganga Mahasabha in Rathyatra, Varanasi

Apprehensive of the possibility of the British completely damming the flow of Ganga at Bhimgauda in Haridwar, Bharat ratna Mahamana Pandit Madan Mohan Malviya Ji established the Ganga Mahasabha in 1905. Due to Mahamana’s efforts a massive public protest arose against the damming of Mother Ganga and the British government had to buckle under the pressure.

In 1916 an agreement was entered into with the British government which provided that:
1) In future, the incessant flow of Ganga will never be interfered with. (1916 Agreement, clause 32, para-I)
2) No decision on Ganga will be taken without the consent of the Hindu community. (1916 Agreement, clause 32, para-2)

Under Mahamana’s leadership the then Indian princes and Lala Sukhbir Singh, the general secretary of Hindu Mahasabha, signed this agreement. This agreement is binding even today under article 363 of the Indian Constitution, but something that the British government could not do has been done by the governments of free India. Violating this agreement, Mother Ganga has been completely imprisoned in various dams including the Tehri dam.

Compared to 1916 the present crisis is extremely grave because today due to obstructions, diversions, pollution, encroachment, global warming and commercialization the very existence of Mother Ganga has come under question. Therefore in 2005 the Ganga Mahasabha was restructured. After the restructuring Ganga Mahasabha has been playing the leading role in mass movements, public awareness campaigns and coordinating various other efforts to protect Mother Ganga.

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