Mass awareness drive to save River Ganga held in Allahabad

Allahabad, Dec 20(ANI): Hundreds of enthusiastic and curious people converged on the banks of River Ganga at Allahabad in Uttar Pradesh on Sunday to participate in the 'Save Ganga Campaign'.

The campaign was initiated by the personnel of the state police in which eve the top brass took the lead and took it up to spread mass awareness on the need to protect and conserve the River Ganga.

To lend a helping hand to this cause, several voluntary fora and allied departments of the district administration came forth and they were seen clearing and cleaning the banks of floating waste and assorted polluting items.

Speaking to the media persons, Deputy Inspector General of Allahabad Range, Chandra Prakash, said that the police personnel under his wing have a taken lead in this campaign with the hopes the rest of the society would follow suit.

"Today, around 300 officers and men of the Police department took part in the 'Save Ganga Campaign'. The aim behind organising this campaign is to convey the message that the River Ganga is our national heritage and it is our responsibility to invoke the commoners towards its protection and conservation," Prakash said.

In recent years, non-stop inflow of untreated civic waste and industrial effluents has turned the water of the into a polluted water body.

Although numerous action plans have been announced and millions of rupees spent, little has been done in implementing even one.

"The district administration and some voluntary organizations have joined hands to clean up the age-old banks of the river for its conservation and protection. Many devotees visit this place and litter the banks of the river with plastic items and other unwanted materials that are harmful for the river. So on this day we take up the job of cleaning up the banks of the river and I am happy to mention that we got a lot of cooperation from the people," said Sanjay Prasad, District Magistrate.

The Government has planned to end discharge of untreated waste into the Ganga by 2020.

Though the Union Government enacted Ganga Action Plan in 1985 to clean the river, much of the action seems to have confined to papers.

However, with one billion tonnes of waste being dumped into it everyday, the River Ganga, unfortunately, remains one of the most polluted rivers in the world. (ANI)