Uttar Pradesh government will cooperate with Narendra Modi government for cleaning Ganga: Azam Khan

Terming pollution of Ganga a serious challenge, Uttar Pradesh government today said it would cooperate with Central government for cleaning the river. The issue was raised in the state Assembly by BJP MLA Shayamdev Roychaudhary who moved a resolution to immediately stop all drains falling in the river.

Referring to the bad condition of Ganga 'ghats' in Varanasi, Roychaudhary said Uttar Pradesh has the maximum course of the river. The state benefits the most from the river and because of this it also pollutes it the most, he said. Making a special reference to the pollution caused by the leather units around Kanpur, the BJP member said the Pollution Control Board is "useless".

He said despite thousands of crores of rupees being spent under Ganga Action Plan for cleaning it, the pollution level in the river has gone up instead of going down. On this, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Azam Khan said the pollution in Ganga was as a serious challenge.

Since the Central government appear to be serious in making it free of pollution, the state would lend its full cooperation in this task, he said. Minister for Handicapped Welfare Ambika Chaudhary said industrial waste was the main cause of pollution in Ganga and the government ban it. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who won the Lok Sabha election from Varanasi, has promised to clean Ganga.

Defending his government over the CAG report highlighting mismanagement and financial irregularities in the organisation of Mahakumbh Mela, Khan said whatever might have been stated in the report, the event has been hailed at the international level and saints too expressed happiness over the manner in which it had been held.