Cleaning Ganga will take an eternity, says BJP leader on Namami Gange

Varanasi: Toeing a line different from his party-led government on ambitious 'Namami Gange' programme, senior BJP leader Murali Manohar Joshi on Friday said Ganga can't be cleaned even in next 50 years the way the project to clean the river was being carried out. Expressing his reservations on clean Ganga project, Joshi said cleaning Ganga would be a far-fetched dream till there was uninterrupted water flow in the river.

"Cleaning Ganga would be a far fetched dream till there was an uninterrupted flow of water in the river. The river cannot be cleaned even in next 50 years, the way river was being cleaned by dividing it into small parts, converting it into small ponds," Joshi said, adding that Ganga was our lifeline, and any threat to Ganga was a threat to our culture and tradition.

The senior BJP leader advocated for an uninterrupted flow of water in Ganga and questioned Union Minister Nitin Gadkari's Inland waterways project of running cruises and large ships in Ganga river for transportation of heavy goods.

"How will you run large ships when big boats are unable to move on the river. (Ganga mein Jahaz (ships) chalana to door, badi nav (boats) bhi nahi chal payengi, is yojana ko lagu karne se pahle Ganga ki maujuda isthti ki jaanch karale)

Joshi also advised Shipping Ministry to first examine the present status of the river and its geographical area, then decide on the execution of the project.

He said Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya had fought with Britishers for maintaining the continuous flow of river water and even forced them to sign a pact for maintaining a minimum level for the continous flow of river Ganga at Haridwar, which was followed till there was British rule but now it was being flouted.