Mega rally of June 2012

Moved by the government's inaction towards saving the Ganges, the

eminent Ganga Mukti Sangram Saamiti decided to initiate a mass drive by
gathering thousands of Ganga Devotees along with theGanga Rath which travelled
through Varanasi on 14 June and then to Allahabad, Kanpur, Matura, Vrindavan
and finally reach to Delhi on 17 June. Shankaracharya of Dwarka Sharda
Pithas Swami Svarpnanda Sarasvat who also joined the movement at Jantar
Mantar in Delhi gave an ultimatum of three months to the Central government over
the government's apathetic attitude towards the protection and conservation of the
National River.
Pollution regulation
Ganga suffer from a large scale pollution due to common practices like bathing,
washing, putting flowers and idols into the river creating filthy and unhygienic
conditions. Dismal civic conditions, bad smell and unavailability of basic
amenities like toilets and changing rooms could be seen. Most of the ghats could
be seen with a series of iron grills erected on stony platform, laden with heaps of
garbage and rotten stuff. Animal loitering on ghats, troubling the residents and
devotees is the other problem.
It is necessary to frame some rules and guidelines for the Civic authorities and
municipalities to carry out a scheduled and continued cleaning effort from the
concerned officials.
Industrialization control
Since, Industries dump a large quantity of inorganic and non-bio degradable wastes
into the river, It is demanded that further establishments of any kind of new
Industry without proper management shouldn't be undertaken. Also, those who are
flouting the pollution regulation norms should be checked at once. Afforestation

and efforts to save wild life in the Himalayas should be regulated by a high
powered committee.
Awareness
Mass awareness against environmental degradation, especially against pollution of
air, water and land and deforestation and destruction of wildlife should be
undertaken.
a) T.V. and Radio are to be persuaded to give a substantial amount of
prime time to create such awareness, informing regularly about the
water pollution levels of major rivers and of air pollution levels in big
cities and their adverse affect on the common people.
b) National laboratories such as NEERI, TRC, etc., must regularly
monitor the pollution levels of major rivers and inform the public
about the hazardous effects through various forms of mass media.
c) A comprehensive website on the Ganges and other rivers of our
country should be created for networking of various organisations and
people involved in the Ganga Action Plan and for creating necessary
mass-awareness for saving the Ganges and other rivers of our country.
d) Environmental ethics should be taught as a part of the syllabus on
ethics, both at the school as well as at the college level. Teaching
environmental ethics without discussing the value and means of an
ethical life would be of little significance. We must study critically the
views of great religions and of great teachers and thinkers of mankind
about various fundamental issues of ethics.
Monitoring committee
It is demanded that a committee of experts to monitor the progress of
the governmental course of actions in this direction should be
appointed. It should report all of its findings and actions to the
Supreme Court of India which direct the Central and State
Governments.