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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Rajendra Singh, two others quit Ganga basin authority by Priscilla Jebaraj

Rajendra Singh, two others quit Ganga basin authority by Priscilla Jebaraj

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published Published on Mar 11, 2012   modified Modified on Mar 11, 2012

‘It has become a toothless organisation, which hasmade no difference to neglect of the river'

Claiming that the National Ganga River Basin Authority has become a toothless organisation which has made no change to the government's neglect of the national river, three of its non-governmental members have submitted their resignations to the Prime Minister, chairperson of the body.

“In three years of the NGRBA's existence, we have only had two meetings,” said Rajendra Singh, Magsaysay Award winner, known as the Waterman for his efforts at water harvesting and management in the arid villages of Rajasthan. “In that same three-year period, the Authority has spent over Rs. 6,000 crore but we do not have any details about how the money is being used…There is no accountability,” he told The Hindusoon after submitting his resignation. The last meeting of the NGRBA was held in November 2010.

Along with Mr. Singh, two other members, Ravi Chopra of the People's Science Institute in Dehradun and former Aligarh Muslim University professor Rashid Hyatt Siddiqui, of the NGRBA's policy-making Apex Council have resigned.

The Authority was created after widespread protests in February 2009 caused by the earlier Ganga Action Plan (Phase I) launched by the then Prime Minister, Rajiv Gandhi, in 1986 which had failed to clean up the river. Now, the activists are complaining that the government is repeating its mistakes, breaking its own promises and continuing its neglect of the river.

“They promised that the 135 km stretch from Gomukh to Uttarkashi would be a protected ecological zone. But [the government] has given permission for 50 new dams along that stretch. What kind of protection is this?” asked Mr. Singh. “They have declared the Ganga as the national river on paper, but they are not treating it with any respect.”

The three NGRBA members are also quitting in solidarity with Swami Gyan Swarup Anand on a fast-unto-death to persuade the government to scrap all hydel projects under construction on the Ganga or its tributaries which disrupt the natural flow of their waters.

After one month of no food, the activist sanyasi has also stopped drinking water from March 9 to increase the pressure on the government.

In 2010, his 36-day fast resulted in three major hydel projects being abandoned.

The Hindu, 11 March, 2012, http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/article2983418.ece


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