Namami Gange: Clean Ganga Mission
Namami Gange Project has its first meeting today. A project to clean the most worshipped river of India, Ganga.
The most sacred river of Hindus upholds the religious, and cultural ethnicity of India. A few of us call to address it as the ‘most sacred’ river whereas others address it as the ‘most populated’ river.
Why is Ganga such an important river
It is the main reason for the existence of many people and has been used for irrigation since ancient times. The banks of the river ‘Ganga’ was the provincial capital for many kingdoms in India. Ganga is worshipped as the goddess Ganga who incarnated as the Ganges. Ganga is the embodiment of all sacred waters and rivers in Hindu mythology. Ganga has been a symbol of India’s age-long culture and civilization, ever-changing, ever-flowing, and yet the same sacred Ganga.
Many Hindus believe that a dip in the river Ganga can get you rid of all the sins committed in life. It is a belief in the purification of the soul. A place to find Moksha for many Hindus.
Why is the need to clean Ganga?
One-third of deaths can be attributed to water-borne diseases. Pollution has brought a major change in the health of people. It affects the life of wild animals and marine animals. Ganga was ranked the fifth most polluted river in the world in 2007 and still remains one of the most polluted rivers in the world affecting over 400 million people who live close to the river.
What have we done so far to clean?
Many plans have been taken to clean Ganga. Back in 1986, Ganga Action Plan came into existence. Later National River Ganga Basin Authority in 2009 and many more such plans focused on building factories far from Ganga and preventing the dumping of untreated waste directly into the river.
The plans haven’t been successful due to a lack of technical expertise, poor planning and of course an added common tag of corruption
What is Namami Gange?
Namami Gange is PM Narendra Modi’s pet project which was announced in July 2014 with the allocation of INR2,037 crores and will have its first meeting today.
Earlier plans had a town-centric approach which focused mostly on famous towns but Namami Ganga, Mission Clean Ganga builds on lessons from the past, and will look at the entire Gangetic basin while planning and prioritizing investment. The idea looks promising. We hope to see the plan in action soon.
The government has approved to set up “Clean Ganga Fund,” which will accept voluntary contributions from residents, non-resident Indians and Persons of Indian Origin towards cleaning the river Ganga. Many counties have offered financial and technical support for the Namami Gange project. The process might take at least 18 years to be completed as it covers almost the entire part of northern India and stretches from Uttarakhand in the northwest to West Bengal in eastern India.
Natural resources are the greatest assets to any Nation and for a country like India, Natural resources add strength and ethnicity. Negligence to an extent has brought this to such a stage where rectifying the mistake might cost a loss but it’s never too late to start something good. Maybe it’s time to treat natural resources with the respect they deserve. Maybe it’s time to make a better India.
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National River Ganga is declared on 2009
I like Ganga River very much
Rightly said Gowtham. Its never too late to start something good :)
As Narendra Modi Govt took over the reins of free India a few months
back, Integrated Ganga Conservation Mission called ‘Namami Gange’ was
announced by the BJP-led government with much fan fare with an initial
sum of Rs 2,037 crore allocated in the Union Budget for 2014-15. Let us
be aware, the issue of purification of Ganga Maa is very close to the
heart of Shri Narendra Modi and I truly appreciate it.
An RTI query has some shocking revelations about a meeting held by
National Mission for Clean Ganga at Vigyan Bhawan in Delhi. Whopping sum
of Rs 43.85 Lacs has been spent on just the aforesaid meeting!
The money spent on the meetings and accommodation of guests coming for
the meeting was approximately Rs 26.7 Lacs, and on publicity it was Rs
5.1 Lacs.
The biggest shocker is the amount spent by the government on floral
decorations equaling Rs 75000! Rs 2.3 Lacs were spent on miscellaneous
expenses.
43 lakhs? That’s a total shocker! No wonder where all the money goes. This is disappointing. The same money could have used for solving a few issues. Thank you Prasahant for passing on this information.
Hi Vidyashree, You have written an appropriate post and I can only pray to God to let this mighty and beautiful river become clean once again.. Its so vast and beautiful and is the lifeline of India… For pure agricultural and beneficial reasons if not for religious and sentimental reasons, just make it clean.
PS – Thanks for your love at my place :)Hope you and Vinay are fine Will catch up soon :)
Long time :)
That’s true Kokila. It’s a highly beneficial river. So sad to look at its position today.
I and Vinay are doing good and we hope the same from you :)
Honestly Vidyashree, even today if you preserve a bottle of the water of Gange, and you can see that it is fine even after a few months as well. It is indeed true that river Gange is being the source of life for many families, and it should be preserved…
I have heard about Ganga water purity and how well it stays in a closed container. Sad to know its impure to such an extent at certain parts that it scares the life of animals and people.