Maa Ganga needs to be preserved; Dr Paul

DAINIK NATION BUREAU

Uttarakhand governor Dr KK Paul has said that from Gaumukh to Ganga Sagar, people should develop a habit to preserve the Ganga by keeping its clean. The Namami Gange programme did not belong to the central or state governments but was a mission for all Indians. The Ganga, besides having a cultural and spiritual dimension, also played an important role in the country’s economy. It has sustained people for centuries. This is why it is called “Maa Ganga”.  In 2014, at Madison Square Garden, PM Narendra Modi, while addressing the Indian community in New York, said that if we can manage to clean the Ganga, it would help 40 per cent of the people of India. So, cleaning the Ganga also has an economic motive. He was speaking at a function held at Rajbhawan, where he flagged in the Namami Ganga Trek organized from October 10 to October 14 jointly by State Project Management Group and Nehru Mountaineering Institute, Uttarakashi from Gangotri to Tapovan (via Gaumukh).

Congratulating the organizers and participants, Dr Paul said that the Namami Gange will also help to realize this objective. It includes large scale efforts of cleaning, resolving the problem of solid waste, building toilets, setting up treatment plants, modernizing the crematoriums, improving the ghats, checking industrial pollution and plantations. Although Ganga flows in North India, it is respected by people of the entire country. It unites us in one thread. We must make efforts to rejuvenate it and all small and big rivers to keep alive Indian culture.

Devbhoomi Uttarakhand is like the Ganga’s parental home and the responsibility of people of the state towards the Ganga is thus greater. Efforts are being made by the state government and people towards this direction and people are getting more aware  of Namami Gange. This awareness must be converted into implementation.

The trek was organized to enhance the awareness of the need to keep the Ganga clean. Policy makers, peoples representatives, scientists, teachers, students, mediapersons and administrators participated in this trek. The team carried out plantations, cleanliness drives and also held programmes for taking the “Ganga Shapath” and deliberations over conserving the Ganga.

More such treks should be organised involving more students.  budget proisions were being made for protection of Ganga. Director of the state project Dr Raghav Langer spoke on the occasion, giving details of the trek.