Save Ganga activist to go on indefinite fast

Environmentalist G.D. Agarwal will sit on a fast-unto-death starting June 13 for protection and conservation of the river Ganga, his supporters said Monday.

A former Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) professor, Agarwal will begin his fast in Haridwar in Uttarakhand. Members of some other organisations will join him June 22-23.

"The central government has failed to take any concrete measures towards the conservation and protection of the Ganga. We have no choice but to hold peaceful protests," said Reoti Raman Singh, member of the Indian Parliamentarians Forum for Save Ganga-Himalayas.

"Professor Agarwal will go on an indefinite fast starting June 13 demanding stringent measures to save the river from getting polluted due to various reasons," said Singh, a Lok Sabha MP.

Agarwal, 80, went on indefinite fast in 2012 and had called it off after assurance from Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to meet all his demands.

"The attempts made by the government towards the conservation of the Ganga have been futile and half-hearted. Even assurances given by the prime minister have not given any results," he said.

The activists are demanding that all under-construction and proposed hydro power projects on the river must be stopped with immediate effect.