Ex-army chief VK Singh joins save Ganga campaign

Former army chief general (retired ) Vijay Kumar Singh on Tuesday took part in Ganga Sansad, a campaign to protect the Ganga from pollution and encroachments,  as part of the ongoing kumbh mela in Allahabad. The campaign to raise awareness about the Ganges comes nearly after the Centre decided to tag Ganga as a C-grade river, because of ever-increasing pollution.

Stating that there have been several discussions regarding the same, Singh said, "The primary aim of the Ganga Sansad at the maha kumbh is to ensure that the Ganga becomes pollution-free and there have been several discussions regarding this."

It was in October when the Centre's inter-ministerial group sought to classify Ganga as a 'C' category (poor) river. The categorisation has been proposed to be done in view of a report submitted by IIT-Roorkee, which found that 84% of the water flow in the river will either be diverted into tunnels or reservoirs because of more than 100 hydro-electric power projects proposed on the river in Uttarakhand.

"Ganga is ours, it is our future, it is our life and it is our pride," said Prem Puri, a sage. The river's pollution has been a major concern for environmentalists and Hindu ascetics as well who regard the river as holy.