Uma Bharti on 2,500 km tour to inspect execution of 'Namami Gange'

The government has set a deadline for itself of October 2018 to clean the river

Union minister Uma Bharti set off on a tour on Thursday to inspect execution of the Centre's 'Namami Gange' programme at various places along the Ganga in a bid to amplify efforts to clean up the heavily polluted river.

Bharti will begin her 15-day trip from Ganga Sagar in West Bengal and culminate the same at Gangotri in Uttarakhand.

During the nearly 2,500-km tour, the water resources minister will also cover 25 other locations from the basin states of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Jharkhand, besides Uttarakhand and West Bengal.

Apart from this, she will interact with various stakeholders during 'Ganga Chaupal' (meetings on issues relating to the river) at 24 locations in the five states to make the central programme a success.

 

Bharti will travel by road, boat, air and on foot during the journey, ministry spokesperson Samir Sinha said.

The minister will also visit Central Inland Fisheries Research Institute located in West Bengal's Barrackpore, he added.

The institute specialises in fisheries research on the Ganga river.

The government has set itself a deadline of October, 2018 to clean the ailing river.