Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday chaired the National Ganga Council meeting in Kanpur, where he will also review the 'Namami Gange' project and get a first-hand experience of the impact of the programme on the holy river.
The prime minister was received by UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and other dignitaries at the Chakeri airport. The PM chaired the meeting of the council at Chandra Shekhar Azad Agriculture University. He reviewed the works completed under the project so far and exchanged notes on cleaning the Ganga with dignitaries, officials said.
The meeting chaired by the PM was attended by UP and Uttarakhand chief ministers Yogi Adityanath and Trivendra Singh Rawat, respectively. Union ministers Prakash Javadekar, Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, Dr Harshvardhan, RK Singh, Prahlad Patel, Mansukh Mandavia and Hardeep Singh Puri attended the meeting along with several officers from the Centre and the states.
PM Modi visits Namami Gange Mission exhibition
The PM also visited a Namami Gange Mission exhibition, showcasing the works done for the cleanliness of the river. Later, accompanied by the chief ministers and other dignitaries, Modi visited Atal Ghat near the Ganga barrage to assess works done under the project.
On a cruise for half-an-hour, PM Modi waved at people standing on the river bank. The Prime Minister's Office had earlier tweeted that Modi will chair the first meeting of the National Rejuvenation, Protection and Management of River Ganga Council in Kanpur.
What is the Namami Gange project?
The Namami Gange Programme' aims to accomplish the mandate of the National Ganga River Basin Authority (NGRBA) to ensure effective abatement of pollution and rejuvenation of the river Ganga by adopting a river basin approach.
The Kanpur stretch of the river is regarded as the most polluted. After the launch of the Namami Gange project to clean and rejuvenate the river, 13 out of 16 major drains in Kanpur have been completely tapped and the sewage and industrial effluent has been diverted to treatment plants.
