‘Clean GANGA’ Initiative

According to a report of the National Environment Engineering Research Institute ( NEERI), all the fourteen important river of India are highly polluted. The study and research , of course, have been limited to the big rivers. If one goes a bit deep, one would find that all the tributaries of the big rivers face the similar problem. Since industries have developed and population has increased even in towns and cities on the bank of those small rivers and their tributaries, their water is also polluted; and ultimately it flows into the big rivers making them more dirty. The effluents from industries, human and animal excreta discharged in the rivers through open drains and animal carcass are main pollutants of these rivers.

After the maiden speech of late Rajiv Gandhi on becoming Prime Minister, the attention of scientists and other government authorities was drawn towards purification of Ganga, the Holy  River. But flowing water in all the rivers is considered holy, as their very flow guarantees purity. But no serious action has ever taken place to save it.

Our Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi  has been very bent on the issue of the holy river, and has promised the Parliament of India to get the holy river cleaned and out of misery.  So far, Rs 20,000 crores have gone into the cleaning of  Ganga—most of it down the drain. Most household wastes to construction debris, from used irrigation water containing fertilizer and pesticides to industrial waste, from people bathing in the river to ashes immersed in it, Ganga is abused. Shri. Modi has offered the gifts he received during his tenure as PM of the nation for bidding. The amount received from the bidding will be utilized for the cause.

The government proposed to set up an expert-panel which would review the situation and examine the ecological impact of hydel projects taken on the Himalayan river. The committee includes representatives from the ministries of environment, power, and water resources and other authorities and research institutions. From outside the government, the PMO has chosen Director General of Centre for Science and Environment, Sunita Narain, former professor of IIT-BHU and Mahant of Sankat Mochan temple at Varanasi  Virbhadra Mishra and head of Tarun Bharat Sangh-Rajendra Singh. The committee will also inspect previous reports by IIT Roorkee and Wildlife Institute of India. To fulfill the demands of activists to have an independent monitoring committee for Ganges, the government has proposed to upgrade the existing National Ganga River Basin Authority (NGRBA) to the level of an independent commission along the lines of the National Human Rights Commission through a new law.

Water can be regarded as the prime essential for all living beings. Our Survival also depends on Water. Each one of us has a role to play in conservation of Ganga’s water and even the other rivers. Your small efforts can create a big impact, your awareness can enlight this project. Let us join hands to stop polluting rivers by finding other ways for disposal of wastes and also stop other such activities that ruin the divine rivers’ water.
Namami Gange! (I bow to the river Ganga)

Admirable India

Post By – Anu Varkey