Government of India encourages Public Participation in Ganga Conservation

The conservation of the Ganga River is again becoming a hot issue in India. It dominated the political discussions before last general elections and even after the election it is one of the most burning issues. This sacred river of India is facing tremendous pollution pressure and task to restore its ecological well being is Herculean one. One of the most welcoming steps of the newly formed government is the effort to include masses in the cleaning of the river. The ‘Ganagamanthan’ project (http://www.gangamanthan.in) will surely help to get support of people from different walks of life IN SAVING OUR RIVERS. One of the major reasons cited behind the failure of past efforts in cleaning up of the Ganga is lack of ‘Public Participation’ and if people get right way of participating in the cleaning programmes this river will become a source of clean water. There is a need to involve all the Sates and located in the Ganga basin to work collectively in this mission. Only involving the States through which the Ganga passes is not enough to solve the problem. As our National policy is following a ‘basin approach’ to handle the problem, so our efforts must be spread all over the basin. The World Bank has already extended huge amount as long term loan for the cleaning of river few years back and it must fulfill its objective to the greatest possible extent. Indian culture is also known as ‘Ganga Yamuna’ culture and our ability to safeguard our cultural fabric will be determined by our ability to save Ganga and Yamuna, the two socio-economic , spiritual and cultural pillars of our civilization. As Yamuna is the largest tributary of the Ganga and its water quality have a direct impact on the water-quality of the Ganga, so it seems very logical to extend the cleaning drive to both rivers. It is another right step by the Ministry to have equal focus on both the rivers. 

There are some issues which need public support in keeping these rivers clean like (Not using soap while bathing, Not throwing waste etc) , but there are also some issues like ( Construction of Dams, Sewerage Treatment plants, which can only be dealt at level of policy making and governance. On one hand we need to increase our electricity production to cater to ever growing needs of domestic and industrial sectors, but on other hand construction of Dams and hydropower infrastructure is adversely affecting the local population and ecology severely. It is a high time that we must decide our priorities and save our natural and cultural heritage. The water- quality of most of the rivers in country is not even safe enough for bathing and agriculture and it have adverse impacts on public health and prosperity.

Hopefully this time we are able to make Ganga and Yamuna pollution free and able to design a strategy for Ganga river basin to reduce high population pressure on it, without a definite population policy can practically we cannot achieve our national goals.