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Varanasi seer organises seminar to protect
Ganga from pollution

     Varanasi: Environmental activists and Hindu monks took part in a lively seminar hosted by Hindu seer Swami Nishchalanand at Varanasi on Monday. The theme of this seminar was to protect River Ganga from getting further polluted. The activists discussed about the ways to stop further deterioration of the river. "Our determination should be so strong that the government feels pressurised that if we do not take action then the Hindus can go to great ends to save the river which has religious connotations for them," said Nishchalanand. Meanwhile, concerned residents took out a procession carrying earthen pots in their bid to spread mass awareness about the plight of the river. "Unless the people of Varanasi are aware, River Ganga cannot be cleansed. Despite being asked not to pollute the river, people still go and wash clothes in the river," said Ram Prakash Jhawar, a resident. The principal sources of pollution are domestic and industrial wastes. Conservative estimates put the effluents flowing into Ganges at 1.7 billion litres each day, out of which 1.4 billion litres is untreated. Nearly 88 per cent of the pollution originates in the 27 cities that are located along the bank of the river and the banks of its tributaries. The Ganga Action Plan (GAP) was initiated by the late Prime Minster Indira Gandhi, who called for a comprehensive survey of the situation in 1979. After five years, the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) published two comprehensive reports, which formed the base from which the action plan to clean up the Ganga, was developed. Late Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi set up an organization in the capital to oversee the Ganga Action Plan.
-June 2, 2009