On the way to the campaign to save river Ganga, a huge number of activists and saints gathered here at the memorial of Mahatma Gandhi and raised their demand to the central government to ban the construction of more dams in the valley of River Ganga and take absolute step to maintain the divinity and purity of Ganga.
A huge number of people fighting for the cleanliness of Ganga gathered at the place and warned government to take the movement at a large scale if it fails to implement the promise made by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh earlier. The protestors further asked for the assurance if all the possible steps to clean the river are being taken.
The campaign would not be ended until the central government ensures the ban of proposed plan for the construction of thirty-nine dams across River Ganga, which is worshiped by almost all Hindus and even other Indians as a sacred river immediately, said Rajendra Singh, a noted water conservationist.
"This is not a one day event. This is a long and long journey. I don't know what the result of the journey is but we know that we are ready until end for the Ganga life." He added.
Swami Pragyanand, a saint said, "Our Ganga has become polluted. Numerous dams have been constructed on it, and it seems, that in the near future, it would become a drain. Earlier, all drains used to flow in Ganga and become pure, but now, Ganga itself is on the verge of becoming a drain. We are working vigorously to save the Ganga. The Ganga has been declared a national river and we urge the federal government to take firm steps to save its purity, sanctity and identity."
It is to be noted that, the central government has already received a loan amount of 1 billion dollar from the World Bank to fund an eight-year project to clean the River Ganga in 2011.
In addition to that, the central government had started a mega scheme called
'Ganga Action Plan' in the mid 80s which there are no visible results for the
last two decades after spending billions of rupees in the name of the project.
In addition to the shrinking size of the river, the accumulation of silt deposit
and garbage along the banks of the river is a point of major concern for the
environmentalists.
Many non-governmental and social organizations are joining their hands voluntarily in the support of clean the River Ganga campaign.
The major factors leading to such problems for the rivers in India is that more than 90% of the river water is been used by hydroelectric projects and barrages. Moreover, other unlawful activities like quarrying for sand from the banks of the river are a major point of concern, which leads to erosion.
-With inputs from ANI
|
|
Comments:
