For the rejuvenation of Ganga, a team of 100 Army veterans will embark on a gigantic parikrama (circumnavigation) of the river starting in August from Haridwar to Gomukh, Gangasagar and back to Haridwar, sensitising people of the Gangetic plain about the importance and fragility of this riverine ecosystem and its impact on the economy, lifestyle and livelihood of the people.
They aim to visit at least 2 lakh schools situated on the Ganga’s banks and organize over 200 public meetings during their 'Mundaman Ganga Parikrama' to motivate the villagers to take the responsibility towards the river and its revival.
Along the route, they will map the river on pollution levels and submit a final report to Prime Minister’s office and the Union ministry concerned once the Parikrama ends.
“This data will be available year on year, at the same place, so that everyone can check the improvements made - and in turn to fix the accountability of resources being spent by various stake-holders of the project,” they said in a statement on Friday.
The entire exercise is expected to last for over 200 days, they added.
“For years, we have been trying to clean Ganga but to no avail - everything is happening except revival of Ganga - efforts have been cosmetic. The problem isn’t that there is lack of will or we aren’t doing enough, it’s that people aren’t proactive enough and we are not putting right kind efforts. The population of the entire Gangetic plain need to be sensitised,” Gopal Sharma, an ace mountaineer and founder of Atulya Ganga Mission, said.