Save Ganga campaign is launched
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18/08/2008
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Asian Age (New Delhi)
New Delhi, Aug. 17: A group of 250 spiritual heads representing most of the religious sects and Hindu organisations across India on Sunday launched the "Save the Ganga campaign" in the national capital.
The campaign, "Awiral Ganga, Nirmal Ganga: From Gangotri to Ganga Sagar", aims to clean up the river right from its source in the Himalayas to where it drains into the Bay of Bengal at Ganga Sagar in West Bengal by reducing pollution and demanding national heritage status for the river. The agenda of the umbrella organisation Ganga Raksha Manch includes penalising polluters, preventing drainage of industrial and domestic effluents in the river, opposing the proposed Ganga Express Highway by the Uttar Pradesh government, lobbying for the relocation of industries along the river bank, and opposing the further expansion of the Tehri Dam project in Uttarakhand.
The 250-member Marg Darshak Mandal, or the advisory committee comprising the religious leaders, will advise the Ganga Raksha Manch on how to make the campaign effective.