02/0186

Humans and other animals need access to a supply of fresh and clean drinking water for their survival.

Save Ganga Movement is a widespread Gandhi an non-violent movement supported by saints and popular social activists across the Indian States Uttar Pradesh and Bihar in support of a free Ganga. The movement is supported by Ganga Seva Abhiyanam, Pune-based National Women's Organization (NWO) besides those of many other like-minded organizations and with the moral support from many religious leaders, spiritual and political, scientists, environmentalists, writers and social activists.The movement did not build up sudden. Concerns about the condition of Ganges were raised for Time ago which gained impetus is past few years owing to awareness and support from keen environmentalists.

Ganges is the largest and the most sacred river of India with enormous spiritual, cultural, and physical influence. It provides water to about 40% of India's population in 11 states. It is estimated that the livelihoods of over 500 million people in India are dependant upon the river, and that one-third of India's population lives within the Ganges Basin. Despite this magnitude of influence and control by the river over present and future of the country, it is allegedly under direct threat from various man made and natural environmental issues.

Save Ganga Rally at Delhi (12th Nov, 2000)To achieve this objective a fervent appeal was made to the Hon'ble Rashtrapati K. R. Narayanan for his guidance and active Support in this cause. A national campaign was launched with a mass rally in Delhi on 12th Nov. 2000, with blessings from the then Hon'ble Prime Minister Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee and many eminent spiritual leaders including His Holiness Jagadguru Sri Sankaracharya of Kanchikotipuram, Rev. J.P. Vaswani of Sadhu Vaswani Mission, Pune. Several Gandhians, intellectuals and social activists, participated in the rally.

The National Ganga River Basin Authority (NGRBA) must take the full responsibility of the protection of our national river. Since the Ganga flows through many states, it would be the best if NGRBA takes the full responsibility of making and keeping the Ganga and its tributaries completely and permanently free from pollution through time-bound steps, leaving no scope for the central and state government authorities blaming each other for the failures.a) Like the planning commission, there should be a Deputy-chairman for NGRBA, whose sole and whole responsibility would be towards NGRBA.b) The Expert Members of NGRBA must be given important role to play both at the context of decision making as well as at the context of implementation. At present they are almost totally neglected at both the contexts.The declaration of the Ganga as National River must be done by parliamentary legislation under Entry 56 of the Union List in the Constitution and not by a government notification under the Environmental protection Act.

DIRT IN GANGA..

Energy and water use are closely intertwined. Most power plants generate power by boiling water to produce steam that spins electricity-generating turbines. Large quantities of water are often used to cool that steam . Fuel production—coal mining, natural gas extraction, and growing crops for bio fuels—also requires extensive water supplies, as does refining fuels for transportation. In places where energy production requires a large share of available water, or where water resources are scarce or stressed by competing pressures,the energy-water connection can turn into a collision—with dangerous implications for both.Producing energy from fossil fuels, nuclear power, and some renewable energy sources often involves substantial amounts of water. Depending on what technology it uses, a typical 500-megawatt coal-fired or nuclear power plant, for example, might withdraw about 400 million gallons of water a day from local lakes, rivers, or aquifers, and lose several million gallons of that water to evaporation.