Territorial Army to guard the River Ganges during Magh Mela at Allahabad

#namamigange One battalion of Territorial Army consisting of 250 personnel, would be deployed at Magh Mela in Allahabad to ensure cleanliness on the ghats of the River Ganges and keep it pollution-free during the month-long religious fair. This is an initiative of the Central government sponsored 'Namami Gange' project.
This has been reported in timesofindia.indiatimes.com dated 12 January 2016.

In order to create awareness regarding pollution among the people, a separate pandal exhibiting government's flagship 'Namami Gange' programme would be displayed at the venue of the Magh Mela. During this religious ritual, tonnes of affluent and waste would be generated because about 2,067 seers' bodies, religious and cultural organizations and social associations would be camping on 868 acres during the month-long festivities.
There would also be an estimated 2.56 crore pilgrims who would converge in the city from different parts of the country on the major bathing days.
The Territorial Army would be acting as an eco-task force and coordinate with health department and UP pollution control board to ensure cleanliness of river Ganges. The thrust would be on ensuring that the river remains clean and pollution-free during and after the Magh Mela. The health department, which is responsible for maintaining sanitation and hygiene at mela area, would be allocated an additional budget of Rs 10 lakh for clean-up activities and to ensure that waste left after the mela is disposed off in the proper way and does not pollute the river.

(Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org

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Howrah-Delhi-Kalka mail celebrates 150-years of operation

The Howrah-Delhi-Kalka Mail train is certainly one of the most prestigious and oldest trains of the Indian Railways and it has completed 150-years of its existence. Its association dates back to the freedom struggle days when Netaji Subhas Bose, the greatest architect of Indian freedom struggle, boarded it from Gomoh, a railway junction station on the Asansol-Gaya section. It was in 1941 and Subhas Bose was in disguise and escaping from the British.
This has been reported in timesofindia.indiatimes.com dated 3 January 2016.

The train dates back to the British period and, history was created as it chugged in at Allahabad junction on Saturday to mark its tryst with destiny. Apart from Netaji, the train was featured in a short story of Indian film director Satyajit Ray. The name of the story was 'The Mystery of the Kalka Mail' and in it, the three main characters travel from Calcutta to Delhi and on to Kalka on this train.
As far as history goes - the train was originally run by East Indian Railway Company and began operation between Calcutta and Delhi in 1866 as the East Indian Railway mail. Later, in 1891, its run was extended from Delhi to Kalka. It was used by the British civil servants to move to their summer capital in Shimla from Calcutta with the entire government machinery traveling on the train at the beginning of the summer months and returning by it at the end of summer. Both Howrah and Kalka had internal carriageways that ran along the platform so that the Viceroy and other high ranking officers could drive up to their rail coaches.

(Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org

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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.
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Namami Gange to take off from next month with surface cleaning of 10 cities

#Namamigange #umabharati #Haridwar #varanasi The Namami Gange is to take off in real earnest from next month with surface cleaning of 10 cities - the initial task would be to begin surface cleaning of the River Ganga by removal of solid waste like clothes and parts of dead bodies. AS indicated by water resources minister Uma Bharati, the cities identified are Haridwar, Garhmukteshwar, Kanpur, Allahabad, Varanasi, Patna, Sahibganj, Kolkata, Nabadwip and Gangasagar.
This has been reported in timesofindia.indiatimes.com dated 24 December 2015.

As revealed by the minister, trial of surface cleaning has already been taken up in Varanasi by Tata Projects Ltd under corporate social responsibility scheme. NTPC, ONGC and Petronet have also expressed willingness to fund the project.
Regarding progress of sewage treatment under Namami Gange, the minister has informed that 29 projects have been completed at a cost of Rs 463.58 crore with the treatment capacity of 123 million litres per day (MLD) and sewer network of 666.69 km. A total of 93 projects have been sanctioned at the cost of Rs 1,502.66 crore. Once complete, it will result in the creation of treatment capacity of 858 MLD and sewer network of 3,623.10 km.
On the subject of progress in river front/ghat development projects, it seems development of four ghats out of 20 in Patna was completed last month and work at Chandighat (Haridwar), Chhath Ghat (Delhi) and Sahibganj will start next month.

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Tourism Ministry to develop spots in UP as part of Swadesh Darshan scheme

The Ministry of Tourism has identified 12 circuits for development under the Swadesh Darshan scheme in UP. These are in various locations of the state and are - (i) Singhberpur ghat Nishad ghat and Ram Ghat of Allahabad (ii) Maa Sitladevi Siddh Peeth (Kaushambi)(iii) Ghusier Nath (Pratapgarh)(iv) Markandey Ghat, Kaithi ( Varanasi)(v) development of water falls in Mirzapur and (vi)development of Gangaghat, Vill Fatehpur, Sarosi (Unnao).
This has been reported in timesofindia.indiatimes.com dated 29 November 2015.

The Singhberpur ghat, Marjandey ghat would be developed under Ramayana circuit theme. Preliminary survey has been carried out at Singhberpur ghat, Nishad Ghat and Ram Ghat on November 26 and 27 for developing it under Ramayana circuit theme. An allotment of Rs 12 crore has been earmarked to develop Singhberpur ghat along with Ram Ghat and Nishad ghat.
Development of Maa Sitladevi Siddh Peeth , Ghusier Nath and development of Gangaghat Vill Fatehpur, Sarosi (Unnao) would be covered under spiritual theme.
The development of water falls in Mirzapur would come under the Eco circuit theme.

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Tourists from Europe and US avoid Allahabad, the Sangam City

Allahabad has lost its charm for foreign tourists from European countries and the United States and have to rely on foreign tourists from Asian countries like Sri Lanka, Nepal and Pakistan. In fact, as per data released by the regional tourism office the number of foreign tourists visiting the city was at least 98,167 in 2010 which subsequently increased to 1,07,141 in 2014 because of the Kumbh Mela of 2013.
This has been reported in timesofindia.indiatimes.com dated 10 October 2015.

At the time, the Sangam City had seen influx of foreign nationals go up to 3.87 lakh – that was nearly three times that of the previous year. Most of these tourists had arrived for the Kumbh mela area between January and March 2013. Incidentally, in the past five years, Allahabad has recorded only 2.5 per cent growth in the foreign tourist influx.
The main tourist attraction here are Sangam, Allahabad Fort, Allahabad Museum, Bharadwaj Ashram, Shringverpur etcetera.
The tourism department said that the data was compiled from hotels in the city and the departments where tourists register themselves after arriving in the country. Students who come from Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Middle East and African countries for pursuing education in their desired courses in the city are considered as foreign tourists.
In addition, any foreign national who is invited to Allahabad for attending any seminar or lecture even for a few hours and putting up in a hotel are counted as tourists.
(Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org)

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Very soon there could be cruises on the Ganga in Varanasi

#InlandWaterways #Varanasi #NarendraModi #NitinGadkari If everything goes well, we could very soon see cruises on the Ganga, near Varanasi – the parliamentary constituency of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. It would probably bring Varanasi at par with London that has its famous cruises on the Thames. The tentative target to complete this project is 2018-19 – is it scheduled to coincide with the 2nd term of NaMo?
Along with focusing on developing a waterway for heavy cargo vessel navigation in the Ganga under Jal Marg Vikas Project (JMVP), the Indian Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) is also exploring commercial viability of passenger cruise operations - keeping in mind domestic tourists and pilgrims.
This has been reported in timesofindia.indiatimes.com dated 17 June 2015.

The project of developing Inland Waterways had been started way back in 1986. However, it was not a priority project when compared to road transport and rail project. So far, only Rs 1100 crores could be spent on the IW.
Moreover, the minimal depth of waterway was a major deterrent for attracting cargo vessel operators on this route since, only small cargo vessels could be navigated in and that was not commercially viable.
Hence, the project of capacity augmentation will end this problem. Once the DPRs are ready, the actual cost of project would be estimated. It will also help in setting a deadline for the completion of National Waterway-I from Haldia to Allahabad.
With two heavyweight (literally!) ministers assigned by the Prime Minister, one to clean the Ganga (dredging included?) and the other to organize the waterway, one can hope that the 30-year-old project will now be completed. (Image source wikimediacommons.org)

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Huge embarrassment for a nationalized bank in Allahabad – it was guarding fake gold

The main branch of SBI Bhadohi is embarrassed no end because it has been revealed that the ‘gold’ it was guarding in its vault for the past several years was anything other than gold. It was a scam of the highest order and the bank has been caught on the wrong foot.
This has been reported in timesofindia.indiatimes.com dated 25 March 2015.

The gold was in the form of jewelry, coins and gold bars amounting to nearly 4-Kg and was pledged to the bank against various loans that totaled around over Rs 1 crore. The loans had been given in 2012 under the Agri-gold loan scheme.
However, when the borrowers stopped paying the monthly installments, the bank issued notices and, subsequently, when the outstanding instalment amount crossed Rs 88.32 lakh the bank authorities became suspicious and tested the gold. It was only then that it was revealed that what had been pledged as gold was not gold!!
The manager of the bank has lodged a report against 27 people in Kotwali – they include the field officer of the bank, the Varanasi firm that had tested the gold and certified the purity and the 25 persons who had availed the loans against fake gold.

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