Lockdown has helped Ganga regain its purity and activists want it to remain that way.
(Representational Image)
Lockdown has helped Ganga regain its purity and activists want it to remain that way. When India Today TV team covered 100 km distance from Gangotri to Uttarkashi, it could see the difference between what the river used to be during the pilgrimage season last year and how it looks today.
The usual garbage dumps alongside the river vanished and the temple complex dedicated to the river looks clean and well-maintained. Suresh Semwal, president, temple committee of Gangotri Dham, told India Today TV: “The holy river has cleaned itself to a large extent during the lockdown and the government should not allow people to come for chardham yatra. They should seek blessings of the holy river by remaining inside their houses.”
After Gangotri, the biggest city on the banks of Ganga is Uttarkashi where the famous Vishwanath Temple is situated.
“The water of the river Ganga near Uttarkashi is looking very clean in the absence of pilgrims. The lockdown has proved to be a boon for the river as the nature itself has done what we could all not do,” Ajay Puri, the Mahant of Kashi Vishwanath Mandir said.
NGO Ganga Vichar Manch convener Lokendra Singh Bisht said: “We have been working in the area for many years now but the kind of cleanliness that we see now is unprecedented for me. I hope we are able to keep it this way for times to come.”
ALSO READ | Student delegates step up to save the environment by signing ‘Delhi Declaration 2020’
ALSO WATCH | Coronavirus impact: Earth gets cleaner and wilder
