Protests erupt against sale of 'highly polluted' Gangajal by postal dept

Chennai: Members of regional Periyar Dravidar Kazhagam (PDK) party has held a protest in Chennai against the Central Government for selling `Gangajal`, water from the holy river Ganges.

The Indian Postal Department began the sale of `Gangajal` water for religious purposes on Monday under a new scheme launched by the Centre. Scores of protestors gathered outside the Anna Salai post office and shouted slogans against the Central government.

The protesters said that the holy Ganges River was highly polluted and its water could lead to fatal diseases."The Ganga water is entirely fully impurity water.selling impure water.the World (Health) Organisation has also certified that this water is highly impurity water. It cannot be used anywhere. So a lot of people sustained cancer and other diseases because of the drinking of Ganga water," said a protester, V. Elangovan.

The protesters were later detained by the police.

Under a Centre-sponsored scheme, holy water- drawn from two river sources at Gangotri and Rishikesh in the northern Uttarakhand state- were made available at 809 post offices across the country.

The scheme has proved to an instant hit with bottles flying off the shelves within two days of Union Ministers Ravi Shankar Prasad and Manoj Sinha launching the new scheme.

Two varieties of Gangajal -- one bottled in Gangotri and the other one in Rishikesh, some 300km downstream -- were available. 

200 ml of the holy water procured from Rishikesh is priced at Rs 15 and 500 ml for Rs 22. Gangajal from Gangotri is priced at Rs 25 (200 ml) and Rs 35 (500 ml).

How to buy Gangajal online

Log on to https://www.epostoffice.gov.in/ or directly open the following link: https://www.epostoffice.gov.in/Loginop.aspx?service=eProduct and place an order.

With agency inputs