Kolkata: Senior BJP leader Uma Bharti on Monday
sought Prime Minister Manmohan Singh`s help in setting up a
board to review all projects made for checking pollution in
river Ganga.
"We want the Prime Minister to set up a board to find
ways to save the Ganga. It should have scientists, experts on
environment, religious leaders and people of Uttarakhand,"
Bharti, who is on a visit here as part of the Save Ganga
plan, told a press conference.
The board should be given a time-frame to submit its
report and all projects on the river suspended till the report
was submitted, she said.
Bharti said she had a round of discussion with the
Prime Minister on the matter and was waiting for further talks
with him. "He called me once, I went to see him. But he has
not called me since. I am waiting for another call from him."
If the Prime Minister failed to constitute the board,
her cell would set up one on its own, Bharti said.
Stating that the Ganga was facing the problem of
`pradushan` (pollution), `soshan` (discrimination), `dohan`
(exploitation) and `atikraman,` (tresspassing), Bharti said
the `mining and hydel power mafia` were also posing a threat
to the river.
"Our fight against the mining and hydel power mafia
will continue. We will submit a draft to the Prime Minister on
how power can be generated at half the cost," she said.
Bharti, now travelling along the Ganga in UP, Bihar and
West Bengal as part of the Save Ganga programme, said her cell
would organise a human chain in November from Gangotri in
Uttarakhand to Ganga Sagar in West Bengal to highlight the
pollution dangers facing the Ganga.
The dangers mainly spring from mining activities and
hydel projects in the Ganga Basin, she said, adding that an
international `Ganga Summit` would be organised at the
Talkatora Stadium in Delhi in October.
Bharti said she was getting good response from the people
about her Save Ganga programme.
"Wherever I go for Ganga Aarti, I get good response from
the people," she said.
PTI
