UPA failed badly; no hope from NaMo either as Guj river also polluted: Waterman

VARANASI: As far as taking steps to reverse pollution of Ganga is concerned, there is little done by the Bharatiya Janata Party or the Congress to help them earn votes. The Congress-led UPA did practically nothing to improve the state of the river, while pollution level of rivers in Gujarat, whose chief minister Narendra Modi is BJP's PM candidate, is too high to expect him to do anything for the Ganga, say experts.

"Let us not go by mere rhetoric. High level of pollution in Gujarat rivers, including the Narmada, expose tall claims of NaMo on the Ganga. The UPA-II has failed badly in executing any concrete plan for the river. The Congress secured a substantial number of seats in the 2009 elections in UP and Uttarakhand. It was the second largest party with 21 seats in UP after Samajwadi Party (23) while in Uttarakhand it won all five seats. In West Bengal too, the then UPA partner Trinamul Congress won 19 seats and Congress six seats. But the party did nothing for the Ganga," said champion of environmental causes Rajendra Singh, popularly known as Waterman of India.

It seldom gets prominence in their agenda, though some parties have included it in their election manifesto, he lamented, adding that a strong political will is required to save the river.

"Why don't politicians work sincerely to save the holy river if they really want to serve and represent 45 crore people whose survival depends on the Ganga," questions B D Tripathi, noted environmentalist and member of National Ganga River Basin Authority (NGRBA). "Big leaders are coming to Varanasi to contest the Lok Sabha election. I urge them to give Ganga top priority in their agenda. The river could not be saved until there is strong political will," he said.

Tripathi said a long stretch of the Ganga from Kannauj to Varanasi is highly polluted. "The level of pollution is increasing by the day. Though former prime minister Indira Gandhi took the matter seriously after her visit to BHU in 1981 and wrote letters to the chief ministers of UP, Bihar and West Bengal, the present state of the river is a sad testimony to its neglect," Tripathi added.

"Narendra Modi had raised the issue of the Ganga at his rally in Varanasi in December last year. Let us see how seriously the issue is taken up by the BJP," said VN Mishra, mahant of Sankat Mochan temple. "In Varanasi alone, 33 drains are still discharging sewage into Ganga. We cannot imagine a clean river until there is zero discharge of sewage into it," he said.