Highlights of Ganga Utsav, 2020.

The Ganga Utsav begun virtually on November 2, 2020.  The festival will be concluded on November 4, 2020. Ganga Utsav is being organised by the National Mission for Clean Ganga and the Ministry of Jal Shakti.

Highlights

The Ganga Utsav is being celebrated and observed in the light of 12th anniversary of declaring River Ganges as National river. This year, as a part of the celebration, The Ganga Task Force conducted afforestation drives with NCC cadets.

The National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG)

NMCG was implemented by the National Council for Rejuvenation, Protection and Management of River Ganga on August 12, 2011 under the Societies Registration Act,1860 as a registered society. This programe under the National Ganga Council is supported by the State level Programme Management Groups (SPMGs) in the state such as Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal. This initiative was started by the Government of India to address the pollution of river Ganga by providing financial and technical assistance.

Other Initiatives for Clean Ganga

Some other major initiatives undertaken by the Government of India include:

  1. Ganga Action Plan– It was launched by the Ministry of Environment & Forests in 1985. This was the first ever River Action Plan introduced with an objective of improving water quality by diversion and treatment of domestic sewage. This plan aims to prevent the entry of toxic and industrial chemical wastes to the river.
  2. National River Conservation Plan– This plan is an extension for the Ganga Action Plan that aims to cover all the major rivers of India.
  3. National River Ganga Basin Authority (NRGBA)– It is controlled by the Prime Minister of India. The authority declared the Ganga as the ‘National River’ of India.
  4. Government clean-up campaign– It was started in 2010 to prevent the entry of untreated municipal sewage into the river.

River Ganges

The River Ganges is the longest river of India flowing along the 2,510 km of valleys, mountains and plains. The River originates in Gangotri Glacier in the name River Bhagirathi.  River Bhagirathi joins the Alaknanda River at Devprayag in Uttarakhand and becomes the River Ganges. The major tributaries of Ganga river include Yamuna, Gandak, Kali, Ghagra, Son and RamGanga. This holy river drains 11 states including the Uttarakhand, Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Bihar and West Bengal. The Ganges joins River Brahmaputra before draining into the Bay of Bengal. The river is known as River Padma in Bangladesh.