New Delhi: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh
will chair the first meeting of the Ganga River Basin
Authority (GRBA) on October 5, almost a year after it was
constituted.
"The first meeting of the Authority which has been set
up to protect the ancient river from pollution and degradation
will be chaired by the Prime Minister on October 5," Union
Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh said on the World Ozone Day
being observed today.
He said one of the important issues that will be
discussed in the meeting would be on the method to involve
school children and youth for cleaning of the most sacred
river in the country.
"We cannot cleanse this river unless we create
people`s movement. And, we are seeing children and youth as a
key player in protecting our national river. We will discuss
ways how to ensure their involvement given their other
priorities," Ramesh said.
Chief Ministers of States through which the Ganga
flows, who are also members of the Authority, will attend the
meeting to work for an integrated approach that sees the river
as an ecological entity and addresses issues of quantity in
terms of water flow along with issues of its quality.
The Minister also said that apart from involving in
cleansing rivers, his ministry would rope in school children
in a big way in its various schemes such as plantation and
solid waste management awareness drives.
Bureau Report
