Jambooree on Narmada

The Second Narmada River Festival held from 21st to 23rd March turned out to be a Jamboree of sorts. The inaugural edition of this biennial event two years ago held great promise in that it was based on an excellent idea - that of having a holistic approach to
Narmada.
In the intervening period not much was followed up on ground except setting up an office
and putting a few hoardings and some minor events. Besides, there was this unseemly
controversy regarding the land beiong allotted to it just before the elections and hasty
reteat when it courted public controversy. Moreover , it being overtly saffron makes it
lopsided . Furthermore ,a mere token represntation of foreign delegates takes the sheen away from the international tag. All in all , it appears to act as the safety valve for the simmering opposion to the non- sus tainable development taking place a round Narmada.
Once again it rounded off with great promises like documenting the art and culture of
Narmada region, having a river ambulance , in volving Parikramawasis for environmental conservation etc. but given the fa ct that the pronouncements of the past have not seen the light of the day not many take them at the face value. To sum , it appears to be a
constituency building exercise for some rootless politicians and a PR event for others.