Genocide by indifference

The people of Chaubari, Uttar Pradesh have lived alongside and have depended on the Ramganga river for generations. Now, an upcoming barrage is poised to wipe them out.
7 Jul 2014
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Bareilly barrage across the Ramganga in UP
Bareilly barrage across the Ramganga in UP

The Ramganga has many impediments in the course of its 655 kilometer stretch from its origin in the mountains of Uttarakhand to its confluence with the Ganga in Uttar Pradesh. In addition to the Kalagarh Dam, there are already two barrages along its length and now a third one is coming up a few kilometers from Bareilly.

The engineers of the UP state goverment consider the barrage to be benign as it will only impound water during the monsoon, with releases during the winter. When asked about the changes that will be faced by the people who live upstream of the Bareilly barrage, they shrug it off as' the price of development', a price that is indeed too high according to those who will be impacted by this. 

cucumber fields in the foreground, with people working in the background.

Rubeena's children pose near their cucumber harvest.

Man harvesting cucumbers, the river in the background

Boys standing in the river holding the magnets used to collect coins

A fisherman casts a net into the river

 Two young girls converse on the banks of the river

Pilgrims crowd around a seated priest with offerings of dal and rice.

A view of the river with assorted people and the rail bridge straddling it

A man in a red shirt applies tar to an upturned boat

 

 View more photos of the people living along the Ramganga.

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