Jairam Ramesh: Don't make clean Ganga a Hindutva project

NEW DELHI: Congress leader Jairam Ramesh on Sunday accused the NDA government of turning the programme to clean Ganga as a "Hindutva project" by attempting to polarize politics through the initiative on the holy river.

"Don't look it as a Hindutva project. This is not a Hindutva project. This is a national project. Don't try to polarize politics through Ganga cleaning," Ramesh told the government ahead of the first national dialogue on river Ganga - Ganga Manthan — being organized by the Centre tomorrow.

The former environment minister said the government's Ganga Mission programme should be a people's programme and "we must involve society".

"But don't make it on sadhus and sant's programme. Ganga is a national river. Ganga defines Indian culture," he said, adding Jawaharlal Nehru also spoke about the role of Ganga in Indian culture.

Union and state ministers, MPs, experts, NGOs, sadhus and sants are expected to participate in the day-long brainstorming on Ganga cleaning plan.

Spelling out the steps taken by the previous UPA government to conserve the holy river, Ramesh said, "The NDA is going about this whole thing as if nothing has happened."

He accused the BJP-led government of not acknowledging the initiatives taken by the UPA including establishment of National Ganga River Basin Authority (NGRBA) for cleaning Ganga.

NGRBA was established in 2009 when Ramesh was environment minister.

"They are not talking of NGRBA, they are not talking of IIT-River Basin management plan, we declared 100 kms stretch from Gaumukh to Uttarkashi as eco-sensitive zone," the Rajya Sabha member said.

"What is (Water Resources Minister) Uma Bharti talking... It has already started... My objection is that the NDA government is behaving as if nothing has happened in the past. Rajiv Gandhi launched Ganga Action Plan in 1986.

"UPA government declared Ganga as a national river in 2009. We declared Gangetic dolphin as a national aquatic animal," he said.