Ganga Yatra to reach Kanpur on January 31

BALLIA: Governor Anandiben Patel said Uttar Pradesh is fortunate to have a number of rivers unlike states like Gujarat, and people of the state should hence conserve the rivers and not pollute them.
Speaking at the launch of the five-day Ganga Yatra at Dubey Chhapra village in Ballia district on Monday, Anandiben said, “UP is blessed with dozens of rivers. We procure drinking water from rivers and also discharge sewage and industrial waste into them.Pollution of river water is causing ailments, especially cancer and cardiac diseases, while the health of children is also getting badly affected. No one is trying to look into the reasons for this.”
The governor launched the Yatra after performing Ganga pujan and aarti in the presence of Bihar deputy CM Sushil Modi, Union minister Mahendra Nath Pandey, UP Jal Shakti minister Mahendra Singh, ministers Surya Pratap Shahi, Anil Rajbhar, G S Yadav, MPs and MLAs.
Stressing on the impact of the Ganga on life, livelihood and economics, referring to it as ‘Arth Ganga’, Anandiben said, “The main objective of Ganga Yatra is to add more and more people from 1,038 villages in the Namami Gange campaign for making this holy river free from pollution, ensuring availability of clean drinking water, generating employment and increasing the income of people living in villages along it by promoting organic farming, horticulture, ponds and development.”
“Narendra Modi is the first PM who thought about this. In his 13-year-regime as Gujarat CM, he ensured cleaning of Narmada and Sabarmati, which helped curb health problems in the state,” she said.
“Our philosophy is Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam (World is a family). It means all living beings, botanical properties, rivers and nature are part of family and survival of humans is impossible without it,” she said. The five-day Ganga Yatra will reach Kanpur via Ghazipur, Chandauli, Varanasi, Mirzapur, Bhadohi, Allahabad and Fatehpur and will conclude at Kanpur. CM Yogi also launched Ganga Yatra in Bijnor.