Protesting negligence, Rajendra Singh, two others quit NGRB

Magsaysay award-winner
‘Wa t e r m a n’ R a j e n d r a
S i ng h and t wo ot he r s on
S a t u r d a y q u i t t h e P r i m e
Minister Manmohan Singhchaired National Ganga River
Basin Authority (NGRBA),
protesting the government’s
“negligence” of the river.
Besides Singh, two other
NGRBA members Ravi Chopra
and RH Siddiqi also submitted
their resignation letters to
Prime Minister Manmohan
Singh expressing solidarity with
noted environmentalist GD
Agrawal who is on “fast-untodeath” to press for cleaning up
the Ganges.
Rajendra Singh told PTI
that the resignations were sent
after their meeting with Water
Resources Minister Pawan
Kumar Bansal during the day
when they apprised him of the
agitation of Agrawal, who is
known as Swami Gyanswaroop
Anand.
Agrawal had on Friday
announced that he will not take
water in the last phase of his
fast-unto-death to press for
uninterrupted clean flow of the
Ganga.
W h i l e C h o p r a i s t h e
Director of Dehradun-based
Pe op l e’s S c i enc e In s t itut e ,
Siddiqi is a former Professor of
Aligarh Muslim University.
“ S w a m i G y a n s w a r o o p
Anand’s demand is respect
river Ganga and ensure clean
and continuous flow of the
river. He has been on agitation
for the last 47 days in Varanasi
on the bank of the Ganga. But
g o v e r n m e n t s e e m s t o b e
neglecting his demand. He
entered his second phase of agitation yesterday declaring he
will not take water. His life is in
danger,” Rajendra Singh said.
He alleged NGRBA was
constituted three and half years
ago and it had met only twice
since its formation. The last
meeting of the Authority was
held one and half years ago, he
said.
“My decision to quit the
panel was conveyed to the
Prime Minister in November
last year,” he said.
Singh said the Ganges “is
dying” and instead of ensuring
its free flow, the government is
giving clearance to construction of more and more dams in
its upstream.
Several Union Ministers
— Fi nanc e , Env i ronment ,
Urban Development, Water
Resources, Power, Science and
Technolgy— and Planning
C om m i s s i o n D e p u t y
Chariman are the ex-officio
members of NGRBA.
Other ex-officio members
include Chief Ministers of
Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh,
Bihar, Jharkhand and West
Bengal, the states through
which the river flows.
Besides Rajendra Singh,
Ravi Chopra and RH Siddiqi,
there are six other expert members in the committee including noted environmentalist
Sunita Narain.
Na t i o n a l G a n g a R i v e r
Basin Authority was constituted on February 20, 2009, under
S e c t i o n 3 ( 3 ) o f t h e
Environment (Protection) Act,
1986.
The objective of NGRBA is
to ensure effective control of
pollution and conservation of
the river by adopting a riverbasin approach for comprehensive planning and management.
The Authority has both
regulatory and developmental
functions. The Authority is
also to take measures for effective abatement of pollution
and conservation of the river
Ganga in keeping with sustainable development needs.