The river basins in India and promoting the celebration of Nadi Utsav (River Festival – 2021) will be the aim of Ganga Utsav 2021 to be held from November 1 to 3.
National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) celebrates Ganga Utsav every year on the anniversary of the announcement of River Ganga as the ‘National River’ every year. The objective of the Utsav is to promote stakeholder engagement and ensure public participation under the aegis of the Ganga Knowledge Center.
The Utsav highlights the significance of “Jan Bhagidari” in the revival of Ganga, with focus on encouraging stakeholder engagement and public participation towards the rejuvenation of river Ganga. Through Ganga Utsav NMCG targets strengthening of the public – river connect. Since the last four years this event has acted as an important platform to establish connect with people from all walks of life.
‘Ganga Utsav 2021 – The River Festival’ will be celebrating not just River Ganga but all the rivers in the country. Activities have been planned in 150 districts across the country – 112 in the Ganga belt and the remaining along other major rivers. The celebrations this year will be part of the ongoing celebrations for 75 years of Independence and Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav.
Shri Rajiv Ranjan Mishra, Director General, NMCG shared that this year the festival is inspired by the Prime Minister’s call for River Festival and will be organised under the leadership of Shri Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, Jal Shakti Minister. He also informed that dignitaries for the inaugural function will include Shri G. Kishan Reddy, Hon’ble Minister, Ministry of Tourism and Culture, Shri Prahalad Singh Patel, Hon’ble Minister of State, Ministry of Jal Shakti, Shri Bisheswar Tudu, Hon’ble Minister of State, Ministry of Jal Shakti, Shri. Pankaj Kumar, Secretary, Ministry of Jal Shakti and many Olympic players.
The Utsav celebrates the mystical and cultural river Ganga through storytelling, folklore, dialogues with eminent personalities, quizzes, displaying traditional art forms, dance and music performances by renowned artists, photo galleries and exhibitions and much more. Celebrating the glory of the holy river Ganga, this year the Utsav will also appreciate living and practised cultural richness along river Ganga. Some prominent music and dance performers like Anuradha Paudwal, Prachee Shah Pandya, Rahul Sharma, Revati Sakalkar and Prahalad Tipaniya will be performing at the Utsav.
The message of river rejuvenation will be communicated through stories at Kahani Junction organised by Rituparna Gosh’s Yourstorybag. Himanshu Bajpai too will be performing Dastangoi.
In Ganga Dialogue, well-known personalities like Ashok Chakradhar, Piyush Mishra, Divya Prakash Dubey and Rajeev Khandelwal from different fields will engage in interesting conversations.
Besides, Continuous Learning and Activity Portal (CLAP) will be launched at the Utsav. CLAP will be providing a forum for continuous year-round engagement through its portal at http://www.clap4ganga.com/(active from 1st November post formal launch). In partnership with TREE Craze Foundation, it is especially attractive to children and youth.
The Utsav also includes the launch of the promo of the movie ‘Ganga: River from the Skies’ which will be followed by a webinar, moderated by Shri Mike Pandey, Environmentalist, Iconic Wildlife filmmaker and three-time winner of the Green Oscars joined by Shri. Rajiv Ranjan Mishra, Director General, NMCG, Prof. Vinod Tare, Founding Head, C- Ganga, IIT Kanpur and Shri Srikrishna Mohan, and Shri Ramkumar Mohan, renowned Carnatic musicians and composers of the Ganga Anthem.
