Thane: Shankaracharya Swarupanand
Saraswati on Sunday lashed out at the Congress-led UPA Government
for failing to protect the Ganga from pollution, and said it
was giving "undue importance" to the Anna Hazare-led anti-
corruption campaign.
"Undue importance" was being given to the agitation by
Anna Hazare, while the most important issue of conservation of
the Ganga had been pending for years, he said here.
"This one man held the entire country to ransom and
even the Government fell for him," the seer said, apparently
referring to the 74-year-old social activist.
"People in media have glorified him. Your (media) have
great powers in your hands and can do a bit for the sake of
the Ganga," the Shankaracharya of Jyotish and Dwarka Sharda
Peeth said.
The pontiff said he had written a letter to Prime
Minister Manmohan Singh, requesting him to take up the issue
of `Save Ganga` seriously.
The seer said he would adopt all possible methods of
non-violence to achieve his goal of protecting the holy river
and tour the entire country for the sake of his cause.
It was unfortunate that the Ganga, which flows through
five states, has become totally polluted. More than 35 crore
people reside on the banks of the river. Even the areas near
the Ganga are totally polluted as water percolates and enters
resources like wells and ponds, he said.
The Government of Uttarakhand, from where the Ganga
originates, has also failed to save the river. Ganga should be
declared as the national river so that it can be preserved and
protected properly, the seer said.
PTI
