Cleansing maili Ganga will take 50 years, fumes Joshi

 Toeing a line different from his party-led government on the ambitious ‘Namami Gange’ programme, senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Murali Manohar Joshi on Friday said Ganga can’t be cleaned even in next 50 years they way the project to clean the river was being carried out.

Expressing his reservations on the clean Ganga project, Joshi said cleaning Ganga would be a far-fetched dream till there was uninterrupted water flow in the river. “Cleaning Ganga would be a <g data-gr-id="28">far fetched</g> dream till there was an uninterrupted flow of water in the river. 

The river cannot be cleaned even in next 50 years, they way river was being cleaned by dividing it into small parts, converting it into small ponds,” Joshi said, adding that Ganga was our lifeline, and any threat to Ganga was a threat to our culture and tradition.

The senior BJP leader <g data-gr-id="30">advo cated</g> for an uninterrupted flow of water in Ganga and questioned Union Minister Nitin Gadkari’s Inland waterways project of running cruises and large ships in Ganga river for transportation of heavy goods.

“How will you run large ships when big boats are unable to move on the river. (Ganga <g data-gr-id="38">mein</g> Jahaz (ships) <g data-gr-id="39">chalana</g> to door, <g data-gr-id="40">badi</g> nav (boats) <g data-gr-id="41">bhi</g> <g data-gr-id="42">nahi</g> <g data-gr-id="43">chal</g> <g data-gr-id="44">payengi</g>, is yojana ko <g data-gr-id="45">lagu</g> <g data-gr-id="46">karne</g> <g data-gr-id="47">se</g> <g data-gr-id="48">pahle</g> Ganga ki <g data-gr-id="49">maujuda</g> <g data-gr-id="50">isthti</g> ki <g data-gr-id="51">jaanch</g> <g data-gr-id="52">karale</g>).

Joshi also advised Shipping Ministry to first examine the present status of the river and its geographical area, then decide on the execution of the project.

He said Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya had fought with Britishers for maintaining the continuous flow of river water and even forced them to sign a pact for maintaining a minimum level for the <g data-gr-id="37">continous</g> flow of river Ganga at Haridwar, which was followed till there was British <g data-gr-id="33">rule</g> but now it was being flouted.