Yogi extends support to ‘Rally for rivers’ campaign

Chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Tuesday promised to ensure a clean Ganga in Allahabad during the 2019 Ardh Kumbh.

He made the commitment to spiritual guru Sadhguru, who was here as part of ‘Rally for rivers’ campaign.

While recommending formulation of a national policy to save rivers, Sadhguru said, “It should be framed in a manner that even after 25 years it could be followed by the political class, irrespective of which party is ruling the country at that time.”

Yogi stressed on public participation to keep the rivers clean. “No project of the government can succeed without public participation,” he said while assuring Sadhguru all support of the Uttar Pradesh government in the campaign.

To create mass awareness on rivers, Sadhguru is driving from Kanyakumari to the Himalayas through 16 states. The campaign includes 21 major events and numerous smaller events, both online and off-line. Chief ministers of 13 states are actively supporting the campaign.

“In Uttar Pradesh, Ganga is most polluted in Jajmau. We are making efforts to ensure that no chemical waste is dumped in Ganga,” said Adityanath while also expressing concern over the sorry state of the Gomti in the state capital.

“In Lucknow, 36 drains are discharging sewage waste in Gomti. We are trying to check this by setting up sewage treatment plants (STP),” he said.

On ‘Namami Gange’ project, the CM said, “With Prime Minister Narendra Modi personally monitoring the project, there is no doubt about it success.”

“Saving rivers is not a one-day affair. It will take 20 to 25 years to increase water level in rivers by 10 to 15 percent from the present level,” Sadhguru said.

“By that time many of us will not be there. So, we need a policy document that is acceptable to all political parties. And it should come up after national consensus on the issue,” said Sadhguru.

Commenting on present state of rivers across the country, he said: “Till 50 years after Independence we were in a survival mode. In the last 20 years we were in development mode during which rivers faced maximum degradation.”

He, however, asserted that there was no point in pointing a finger at anyone for the present state of rivers. “We need to adopt scientific approach to save and replenish them,” asserted Sadhguru.

Requesting support from the UP chief minister, Sadhguru said as Ganga traversed through Uttar Pradesh maximum, UP could play a vital role in rejuvenating the river along with Uttarakhand.

He urged students, who were present in large numbers in the audience, to take selfie with rivers and narrate actual condition of that river along with the picture.

On awareness among present generation regarding rivers, Sadhguru said: “We have an ‘online’ generation. Majority of them have seen rivers only online. They have never swam in a river or taken a bath.”

The spiritual guru requested students to join ‘Rally for river’ by giving a missed call on number 8000980009.

On the occasion, deputy CMs Dinesh Sharma, Keshav Prasad Maurya, MLA Raghuraj Pratap Singh ‘Raja Bhaiyya’ and cricketer Suresh Raina were also present. Bollywood singer Mohit Chauhan enthralled the audience with his mesmerising voice.

SAVE RIVERS: SADHGURU TO HANDOVER POLICY DOCUMENT TO CENTRE

A 700-page policy document on how to save rivers has been prepared by the Isha Foundation of Sadhguru that will be handed over to the Narendra Modi government after completion of ‘Rally for rivers’ campaign.

Isha Foundation is a not-for-profit organisation that works for creating awareness among masses for rejuvenation of rivers.