WD News: The third leg of the India chapter of the Run Blue campaign kicked off in Varanasi to raise awareness about water conservation and impact of expansion and urbanisation on the banks of the river Ganga. The campaign aims to organise 200 marathons across the world in the run-up to the first global United Nations 2023 Water Conference scheduled to be held in New York from March 22 to 24.
Varanasi city’s life is intertwined with that of the Ganga, a river that holds great economic, social and spiritual importance for India. The expansion and growing urbanisation of cities on the banks of the river and the discharge of industrial waste have impacted the river and pollution is a major challenge.
In 2014, the Union government initiated the Namami Gange project, an integrated conservation project, with budget outlay of Rs 20,000 crore to accomplish the twin objectives of effective abatement of pollution, conservation and rejuvenation of the river Ganga. The main pillars of the project are sewerage treatment infrastructure, river-front development, river-surface cleaning, biodiversity, afforestation, public awareness, industrial effluent monitoring and Ganga gram. Countries such as Australia, United Kingdom, Germany, Finland, Israel, etc have shown interest in collaborating with India for Ganga rejuvenation. The United Nations (UN) has recognised the Namami Gange initiative to rejuvenate the river as one of the top 10 World Restoration Flagships to revive the natural world, according to a statement issued by the Jal Shakti ministry last month.
The India chapter of the campaign was flagged off in New Delhi by Shri Amitabh Kant, India’s G20 Sherpa and former Niti Aayog CEO. As part of the campaign, similar runs are being conducted in Varanasi, Thane, and Mumbai.
Flagging off the run in the national capital, Shri Kant said, “Climate change is having a huge impact on countries around the world and especially on developing countries like India. Its adverse effects on agriculture, water resources, forests, etc are quite evident. Coupled with the rapid depletion of many critical natural resources, we face a challenging future. Hence, it is imperative for countries to come together to achieve the sustainability goals set by the United Nations. India has continuously met its nationally defined contribution targets on sustainability and the government’s efforts at rapidly increasing access to clean water are bearing fruit. But water conservation will also require a collaborative effort among companies, government, and civil society.”
Source and image courtesy: Hindustan Times
