"The erosion along the riverbank is threatening the existence of several historic and magnificent ghats of Varanasi. There is an urgent need to take remedial measures to save the signature beauty of the millennia old city," said the district magistrate Pranjal Yadav. For this purpose a committee has been formed to begin an extensive exercise for detailed study of the problems as well as appropriate solutions to the problems. Apart from the engineers and officials of different departments including Central Water Commission, PWD, irrigation, Varanasi Municipal Corporation, Varanasi Development Authority and forest, the committee also comprises of the experts from civil engineering department of Indian Institute of Technology, Banaras Hindu University.

"We are looking forward to begin the study of river's profile in Ganga from November 11 with the help of BHU experts," said the DM, who held the first meeting of the committee at Assi Ghat on Tuesday. The issues like the presence of tortoise sanctuary and erosion along the ghats were discussed by the experts and officials of different departments.

It may be mentioned here that continuous erosion under the stone steps of sprawling ghats is posing a serious threat to historic buildings located along the concave side of the bank. For the first time the district administration realised the threat in 2009, and the presence of tortoise sanctuary in Ganga was believed to be the main culprit behind the continuous erosion. At that time the district administration had also made correspondence to the state government in this regard suggesting for the formation of a experts' team to examine the gravity of matter.

According to records, the 7-km stretch of the Ganga between Ramnagar Fort and Malviya Bridge was declared as Tortoise Sanctuary on December 21, 1989 under the Ganga Action Plan launched in 1986. The Kashi Wildlife Division, Ramnagar has been looking after the sanctuary. The norms of the Wild Life (Conservation) Act-1972 restricts sand mining in the protected zone. This restriction resulted in sand dunes on the opposite bank (convex side) of the river. The huge sedimentation of sand on convex side of the bank ultimately started affecting adversely the concave side of the bank that has an unbroken chain of magnificent ghats.

According to UK Choudhary, a river scientist and former professor of civil engineering of BHU, the concave side meandering damages cities, agricultural land and other structures. These damages are the result of convex side sedimentation of river. The static sand bed on convex side continuously changes its friction, form and pressure drag forces responsible for increasing concave side depth of water and position of point of maximum depth at concave side. The convex side of a floodplain is stable and the outer-half portion of the concave side is unstable. The river laterally moves on this side, resulting in meandering, and valuable land is eroded.

Here it is interesting to note that while removal of sand from Ganga in Varanasi is not allowed as per the norms of Forest Act, but the fact is that the norms of Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act-1972 are openly violated in this protected area.

The Wildlife Act describes fishing and any attempt to tamper with the habitat in protected zone as a cognizable offence. But, the fact is that the whole stretch of sanctuary witnesses all types of prohibited activities except the sand mining and tourist cruise operation. One can see activities like motorized boat operation, cattle washing, discharge of sewage and linen washing along the ghats.

As per the Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act-1972, no person other than a public servant on duty can enter the protected zone. No person can tease or poach any wild animal or litter the grounds or sanctuary. The chief wildlife warden may, on application, grant to any person a permit to enter or reside in a sanctuary for investigation or study of wildlife, photography, scientific research, tourism and transaction of lawful business with any person residing in the sanctuary. No person can use chemicals, explosives or any other substances in the sanctuary, which may cause injury to or endanger wildlife in any sanctuary.

It may be mentioned here that the Tortoise Sanctuary also shattered the ambitious project of UP Tourism -cruising in Ganga between Varanasi and Allahabad. It could not be materialized, though a luxury vessel was arranged for ferrying between Varanasi and Allahabad and other tourist destinations like Vindhyachal, Mirzapur and Chunar. But, the project was dropped in 2003 due to the objection made by the forest department. Besides, the first tourist cruise from Haldia (West Bengal) was not allowed to move further in October 2009 and was stopped at Khidkiya Ghat as the motor-operated boats could not operate in this stretch as per the environment law.