Varanasi's boatmen face livelihood crisis due to continuing ban on boating operations

Varanasi (Uttar Pradesh) [India], September 26 : The boatmen community in Varanasi is facing a livelihood crisis due to the continuing ban on boating operations off the coast of Ganga, despite the receding water level in the Ganga river in the past few days.
After a continuous rise in water levels of Ganga due to heavy rainfall, the water levels of the river have been declining, leaving silt on Varanasi ghats.
A local boatman, Ashok Kumar, while speaking to ANI, said that it has been more than two and a half months since the ban on boating operations due to the high water levels, but since boats are his only livelihood, he has run out of money so he is facing problems in providing for his family and paying school fees for his children.
"There are a lot of problems, our daily livelihood is this boat only. My family, daily wages, work everything works due to the boat, it has been more than two and a half months, but our boating activities have been shut down. We are facing a lot of problems because of that, I am not able to give the school fees of my children. My child is sick and I don't have money to treat my child, I have to borrow money but no one is willing to give, no one is there to give me money. The situation is dire. I think it is better to have my family members die by suicide than to live like this, that is the situation," he said.
He requested the government to start the boating operations again so the livelihood of the community resumes.
"We want the government to start our boating operations again, so that we can live peacefully, earn, and eat some food," he added.
Another local, Shivanine Sahani said that a lot of media persons have come recently to ask about their situation, but they still haven't gotten any support for their crisis.
"There are a lot of problems because of the stopping of boating operations. For a long time, a lot of media people have come, they have asked us about our situation, how we live, whether our family is able to survive, and asked us everything, but till now we haven't gotten any support," he said while speaking to ANI.
He also said that it might take a week or even 15 more days for the water to recede completely to its normal levels, while requesting the government to make sure that families of the boatmen do not starve.
"We want the government to understand that our livelihood has been closed down, so to make sure that our family doesn't starve, and our families don't face other difficulties, to make an arrangement for that. It has been more than 2 months since our livelihood has been closed. Ganga's water has been receding, we think that it will take 10 to 15 more days for the water to recede," he added.
The gradual decline in the water levels has led to accumulation of mud, dirt and silt. The cleaning efforts are underway, however, the slow decline is hindering proper sanitation of the ghats.