Ganga mission economic issue, not just religious one, says Uma

Tribune News Service

Dehradun, July 2

Union Minister for Water Resources and Ganga Rejuvenation Uma Bharti has said it is not proper to treat the Ganga as a religious entity alone as it is connected to the regional economy as well.

“The cleaning and conservation of the Ganga is an economic issue and not just a religious one. The Ganga is more of a lifeline to Indians than a mere holy river as around 500 million people are dependent on it. Funds will be spent on conserving the Ganga while stabilizing the earnings of those living on its banks,” she said.

Uma stated this while addressing a meeting on preparation of a detailed project report (DPR) for forestry intervention for Ganga at the Forest Research Institute (FRI) here today. Uma hoped that the Clean Ganga Mission of the Union government would start delivering results by 2018. Uma said her ministry had received Rs 20,000 crore for the Clean Ganga Mission, which has to be spent in 4 years. The Ganga cleaning work would be done in a planned manner.

She said as a detailed project report was being prepared, she was hopeful that the results of the mission would start coming by 2018.Union Minister of State for Environment and Forests Prakash Javadekar referred to pollution of the Ganga by industries, sewage and agricultural waste.

He said his ministry was strict on industries polluting the Ganga. We had ordered the installation of pollution meters at every industry the waste of which was flowing into the Ganga. He said 630 such industries along the Ganga had been identified and of which 440 were tanneries, mainly near Kanpur.

Union Minister of State for Ayush Shripad Yesso Naik underlined the need to promote herbiculture in the Ganga basin. He said Uttarakhand has an immense potential in horticulture. Union Minister of State for Skill Development, Youth Affairs and Sports Sarbananda Sonwal assured the gathering of mobilising youths to achieve the missionary task of rejuvenating Ganga.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Harish Rawat criticised the Centre for not compensating Uttarakhand for environment conservation cost.

He said pine trees that form a majority of Uttarakhand forests were the major cause of forest fires. They hurt the biodiversity of the region as they did not allow undergrowth. He said wild boars and blue bulls were damaging crops in the state and conservation laws in both cases were proving to be a hindrance.

Uttarakhand Forest Minister Dinesh Agarwal, Additional Director General (Forest Conservation) Dr SS Negi and FRI Director Dr Savita were present on the occasion.