‘Clean Ganga’ model for other rivers: Shah

New Delhi: Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday said the dedicated programme to rejuvenate Ganga has been a success and the government would launch similar initiatives to clean other rivers in the country in coordination with the respective state governments.


“The success of this mission was visible in the ‘Aradh Kumbh Mela’ at Prayagraj in January 2019, when crores of people from all corners of the country and from many parts of the world took a dip in the waters of the Ganga,” said Shah while speaking at a function to honour members of the ‘Ganga Aamantran Abhiyan’.


Organised by the National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG), the ‘Abhiyan’ was a month-long exploratory open-water rafting and kayaking expedition, covering 2,510 km from Devprayag in Uttarakhand to Ganga Sagar in West Bengal. It was done as part of an awareness programme to involve people in the massive task of river rejuvenation.

Stressing on the need for a behavioural change in people, especially children, living along the banks of the river to ensure success of the ‘Namami Gange’ project, the home minister said, “We must not look at Ganga as only a river. It is the pivot of a thousand-year old civilisation, which is one of the oldest in the world. Ganga is the symbol of Indian civilisation and is revered in each household of the country.”

Union ‘Jal Shakti’ minister, Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, dwelt on the “incessant” efforts undertaken by the government for rejuvenating Ganga under ‘Namami Gange’ in record time of five years.

Citing visible improvement in quality of Ganga water, he said, “Today, Ganga stands among the top 10 clean rivers in the world, and the level of oxygen and dolphin population have steadily increased in the river.”