Activist seeks people cooperation to keep Ganga clean
VARANASI : Disappointed with people not desisting from throwing waste, old clothes and polythene in the Ganga, activists of Kashi on Sunday made an emotional appeal to the people to cooperate in keeping the river clean.
Ganga activist Rajesh Shukla along with Shivam Agrahari, Shivdutt Dwivedi, Ramprakash Jaiswal, Rashmi Sahu, Sarika Gupta and others, daily, clean a stretch of the Ganga along the Ghats. Shukla, with his team of activists, collected the waste, including plastic bottles, old clothes, and polythene, while cleaning Dashashwamedh Ghat. They put the collected waste at the stairs of the ghat, which is later picked up by a team of sanitation workers and taken to the dumping yard.
Showing the heap of waste, Shukla said, “It is a collective responsibility to keep Ganga clean. Every individual should make an effort to keep the river clean. Despite repeated appeals, people don’t desist from throwing old clothes, plastic bottles, polythene bags and other waste into the river. We take the waste out of the river as we revere Maa Ganga and know it is the carrier of Indian culture. It nurtures greenery and protects the environment.” Shukla is also the Kashi region convenor of Namami Gange scheme. He said around 45% of the population in the country lives along the river Ganga and its tributaries in various states. “Therefore, cleaning Ganga is a necessity. Efforts made by the government have started yielding results. But the cooperation of people is a must,” he added. Activists tried to explain to the people that the waste dumped by them decomposes at the bottom of the river and pollutes it.