A battalion to protect Ganga, check pollution
ALLAHABAD: Former army men will soon join hands with the volunteers of central government departments to protect the Ganga from pollution.
The Indian Army is raising a ‘Ganga Task Force’ – a territorial army battalion of 532 personnel, including nine officers and 29 junior commissioned officers (JCOs) – to keep Ganga clean, stop people from throwing waste into the river and patrol ghats.
Regional PRO and spokesman of the ministry of defence wing commander Arvind Sinha said the battalion would be deployed in Allahabad, Varanasi and Kanpur. The battalion is being raised in Allahabad as a Composite Ecological Task Force (CETF) of territorial army for National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG).
“Other than guarding the Ganga, personnel of the battalion will be involved in tree plantation on the river banks to check soil erosion, create public awareness, participate in campaigns, patrol the river for biodiversity protection and monitor river pollution,” he added.
An official said 200-odd personnel were being mobilised and trained in Allahabad and would be engaged for the task for three years as part of 137 TA Battalion.
“The task force in Allahabad has already created a nursery of about 1 lakh saplings to undertake a major plantation drive on the banks of Ganga. Deployment of these personnel will bring discipline among visitors. They will work with district committees under the Clean Ganga Mission,” he added.
Territorial army, which
comes under the defence ministry, is considered a second line of defence after the regular army. Nine Ecological Task Force (ETF) battalions of TA have been raised to execute specific environment-related projects.
The proposal for raising the CETF battalion emanated from the department of ex-servicemen welfare in the defence ministry which took up a case in 2014 for cleaning the Ganga.
The proposal was vetted and approved by the ministry and the case was forwarded to NMCG. After getting approval from the NMCG last year, the defence ministry issued a government sanction letter in December 2017.