Sacred
Ganges in flow at Rshikesh
Rivers bind people
to places. That might be counterintuitive but it is precisely through their
endless motion and erosion that rivers create long-lasting identities of place.
In their path from source to sea, they create borders, sustain lives, or
destroy them. A River is not alive in the usually sense of the word which is
properly restricted to bonafide "living" systems. Poetically however
it is sometimes useful to use a metaphor and think of an inanimate but complex
system as being 'alive'. This is useful analogy because some natural systems
are very complex and so are living systems. A river is a complex system because
it responds to external perturbations (minor upsets) in complex ways. A river is a geological entity but it also
hosts many life forms all of which are interrelated.
So is
river a living entity scientifically and legally ? Defining life is
not an easy, but generally, most biologists would say "no", a river
is not alive. Like living things, rivers represent a flow of material, in this
case water, through them, just as much of the matter in living organisms flows
through them.
The New Zealand
parliament passed the bill recognising the Whanganui
River, in North Island, as a living entity. Long reverred by New
Zealand's Maori people, the river's interests will now be represented by two
people. The Maori had been fighting for over 160 years to get this recognition
for their river, a minister said. "I
know the initial inclination of some people will say it's pretty strange to
give a natural resource a legal personality," said New Zealand's Treaty Negotiations
Minister Chris Finlayson. "But it's no stranger than family trusts, or
companies or incorporated societies."
The Whanganui
River, New Zealand's third-longest, will be represented by one member from the
Maori tribes, known as iwi, and one from the Crown. The recognition allows it
to be represented in court proceedings. "The river as a whole is
absolutely important to the people who are from the river and live on the
river," said MP Adrian Rurawhe, who represents the Maori. "From a Whanganui viewpoint the
wellbeing of the river is directly linked to the wellbeing of the people and so
it is really important that's recognised as its own identity."
Members of the
Maori community celebrated the news with tears and music in New Zealand's
parliament. The settlement brought to an end the country's longest-running
litigation, the NZHerald reports. It also included $80m (£65m) in financial
redress and $30m (£25m) to a fund to improve the river's health. Thus the river Whanganui
in New Zealand has become the
first in the world to be legally recognised as a living entity and granted the
same rights as a human. It is the
world's first natural resource to be given a legal personality.
It is of
significant spiritual importance to the tribes who think of the river,
mountains and sea as living entities. The river is New Zealand's third-longest
and will now be represented by one member from the Maori tribe, known as iwi,
and one from the Crown.
With regards – S.
Sampathkumar
16th Mar 2017
