This mighty river flows through the city of Kanpur and, one day, I wanted to go and sit on the banks of the River Ganges – it was during my stay in J K colony and, after reaching the place, I was shocked to see the nature and extent of pollution.
Kanpur is famous for its leather tanneries and, automatically, footwear made in Kanpur come dirt cheap. But, this is not about footwear – it is about pollution of the Ganges. Believe it or not, the wastes from the leather processing plants flowed directly into the waters in trickles from different directions. The stench was unbearable and the condition of the water near the banks looked anything but holy.
That was the situation in the 1960s and, in spite of Ganga Action Plans of the government, not much progress has been made. Of course, funds had been earmarked but, true to Indian tradition, the money must have been spent on activities that did not help the cause.
In spite of past failures, the newly elected government of Narendra Modi has now assigned a full time Minister to look after cleaning of the Ganga. There are plans to not just clan the waters of unwanted foreign materials but also to dredge it and convert the river into a regular waterway between the cities on its banks.
It would be a pleasant sight to see launches and motor boats plying on the Ganga. Once that finally happens, it would be a boon to the Nation. (to be continued …)
Another interesting blog - Violence and atrocities
Another interesting blog - Citizen Journalist
No comments:
Post a Comment