Ganga clean up mission gets a boost with Army men standing guard

Very soon, a dirty and polluted Ganga would be history because the task of maintaining vigil over its holy waters would be shared by Army men - they will warn people against dirtying the River Ganga and would create awareness among the people about the demerits of polluting the holy river. The Army men would also carry out plantation drives on its banks.
The Ganga cleaning authorities have hired a battalion of the Indian Army for a period of five years for undertaking this task. Subsequently, three more battalions would be added later.
This has been reported in timesofindia.indiatimes.com dated 4 January 2016.

The Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation have set up a Ganga Task Force through Army battalions and they will keep vigil on whoever throws waste in Ganga. Moreover, these Army men would be contact point for the common man in case they have information regarding any industrial unit discharging waste into the river.
The first Army battalion would be stationed at Allahabad Cantonment. At a later date, this battalion will be replaced by the ministry's own team comprising mainly ex-servicemen who reside in villages on the banks of the Ganga.
Incidentally, the Ganga Rejuvenation ministry would be spending around Rs 75 crore on one battalion that will be headed by an officer of the rank of a colonel. The Army would be given funds of Rs 300 crore over the next five years against the four battalions.
It has been clarified that these men would not be policing, rather they will act a watchdogs and keep vigil on the affluent discharging industrial units. They will receive complaints against anyone who is polluting the river. These personnel would be deployed along the 2,625-Km stretch of the river from Gaumukh in Uttarakhand to Ganga Sagar in West Bengal.
(Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org)


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BJP to woo people of 1649 villages on the banks of the Ganges – target UP and West Bengal assembly elections

BJP has worked out a sort of master plan to woo people who live along the banks of the River Ganges and depend on the river for their livelihood. There are a total of 1,649 villages on the banks of the Ganga — from Gomukh to Ganga Sagar. People who live on its banks comprise the mallah (boatmen), flower-sellers, Purohit (Brahmin) and others and the BJP wants to influence them – with the upcoming assembly elections in UP and West Bengal, such an action is expected to pay rich dividends.
This has been reported in timesofindia.indiatimes.com dated 8 October 2015.

The BJP wants to make inroads into these villages – if it succeeds, the party could tap around 43% population of 11 states dependent on the holy river, directly or indirectly. Hence, the party has created a separate unit — Namami Gange Committee. Its objective would be to reach out to villages and make people aware about the river.
The broad plan is to conduct daily aarti at the pucca ghats and a regular weekly one at villages on the banks of Ganga – that would ensure participation of all communities from the villages in the project. Moreover, a Ganga yatra is also planned from December 25 to January 11 – it will start from Gaumukh and culminate at Ganga Sagar.
(Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org)

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