Ganga Van Yojana giving a new lease of life to dying river

The Centre will look after major work such as sewage treatment plant to treat industrial waste, construction of bio-toilets, shifting of dhobi ghat and electric cremation to name a few. 

“We are working on developing Ganga Van (forest) Yojana on both sides of the 2,525-km-long river, thus covering over 5,000 km distance. The forest zone will pump in a new life to the dying Ganga. One person will be assigned to look after 1km forest area. In one week (August 17-25), we planted 20,000 saplings in UP. We are focusing on planting fruit trees, which can survive for over 100 years. 

The trees will also serve as fodder for animals,” said Namami Gange national convener Trivendra Singh Rawat. 

He added, “We are planning a yatra on Ganga route in two phases. The first phase will start from Gaumukh to Rishikesh on October 25. We will collect <g data-gr-id="32">gangajal</g> from Gaumukh and conduct awareness programmes. The second phase will start on December 25. The yatra will proceed by boat from Rishikesh downwards following Ganga water-ways up to Gangasagar.”

It must be noted that this is not the first time that the Centre has launched a project to rejuvenate the sacred river. 

On January 14, 1986, then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi had initiated a programme called the ‘Ganga Action Plan’, which aimed at checking the direct discharge of sewage and industrial waste into the Ganga. In 2009, then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had started the ‘Mission Clean Ganga’, which aimed to cleanse the river by 2020. The government has changed, but the river’s fate remains unchanged.   

There are around 700 small, medium and large factories located near the banks of the Ganga. Uttar Pradesh tops the list with 495 factories, discharging harmful waste directly into the river. The government has issued <g data-gr-id="33">notice</g> to most of these factories.