Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath claimed satisfactory results from the ongoing Namami Gange Project undertaken under the guidance of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi with the resolve to make the river and its tributaries ‘Aviral-Nirmal’ clean with uninterrupted flow of water.
Announcing the resolution of the state government before officials and other stake holders attending a meeting, Yogi said Aviral-Nirmal Ganga will have to be fulfilled before the commencement of Prayagraj Kumbh 2025. The process of installation of sewage treatment plants (STPs) to save the rivers from sewage dirt and toxic water should be expedited at any cost.
While reviewing the implementation of ‘Namami Gange’ project here on Wednesday, Yogi said river Ganga is a unique gift of nature to UP. “The river covers a major part of the state and is the central point of our faith and also the mainstay of the economy,” he claimed.
He said people’s cooperation was received in a big way in this campaign of the Central and state governments to clean Ganga and its tributaries. Today, dolphins have returned to the river Ganges, and technology is being used to clean the water bodies, he added.
He said effective efforts have been made to stop dirty water from falling into the Ganga in Jajmau and Sisamau area of Kanpur and surprisingly today it has been developed as a selfie point.
Under the guidance of the Prime Minister, it is now becoming the support of the economy along with faith. ‘Arth Ganga’ campaign will benefit crores of people whose livelihood depends on Ganga. With the target of contributing 3% to the GDP from Arth Ganga, we have to make concerted efforts. Efforts should be made to develop it as a model with the help of experts, he said.
CM said, “In order to increase the income of farmers and promote non-toxic farming, the state government has seen good results of encouraging natural farming on both the banks of the Ganges for five kilometres each. About 27 districts in the state are connected with the Ganga. Apart from this, a special campaign has been started for natural farming in 7 districts of Bundelkhand. At present, natural farming is being done on about 85,000 hectares of land. This time the production here has been good. Farmers should be made aware with the comparative report of the good results of this zero budget farming. State level Natural Agriculture Board has also been constituted “.
He said till now an area of 66,180 hectares has been brought under organic farming in the state. More than one lakh farmers are getting benefited from organic farming. All the farmers should be linked to the organic farming portal of the Government of India. To identify and ensure quality of organic products, laboratories should be set up at all divisional headquarters. Similarly, outlets of organic products should also be set up in all agricultural markets, Yogi added.
“We should develop the model of river cruise and wildlife tourism with facilities for water sport an camping particularly on River Ganga. Efforts should also be made to develop Ganga nursery with the help of women self-help groups, ex-servicemen etc. Here, we should create the entire value chain from nursery to processing of fruits. These ‘Ganga products’ can become a permanent source of income for the people on the banks of the Ganges,” CM said.