Ganga Aamantran initiative launched by Jal Shakti Minister

October 8, 2019

Ganga Aamantran is an initiative to connect stakeholders of the Ganga river. It is the first effort of National Mission for Clean Ganga. It is an open – water rafting and kayaking expedition that is to be held on the Ganges between 10^th October 2019 and 11^th November 2019.

Highlights of the initiative

The expedition starts at Devprayag and ends at Ganga Sagar covering 2,500 km in the Ganges
This is the first and largest campaign in Indian history to create awareness about River Rejuvenation and Water Conservation on a large scale.
Swimmers and rafters from all three services of Indian Armed forces will join as 9 member teams. The teams will also be joined by members from CSIR – IITR (Indian Institute of Toxicology Research) and NDRF. The team from CSIR – IITR will collect samples from different ranges of the river.
The team will conduct public awareness campaigns in locations they stop. They will organize mass cleaning drives. The team will also interact with students of villages and cities alongside of the journey.
The initiative is joined by the Wildlife Institute of India to conduct flora and fauna census of 2019.
The initiative encompasses 5 Ganga basin states that include UP, Jharkhand, Bihar and West Bengal.
The complete program is to be headed by Paramvir Singh from IAF (Indian Air Force). He is the only person who swum the entire length from Devprayag to Gangasagar.

Awareness exercises and programs

Painting and slogan competitions on the theme “Water Conservation and Ganga Rejuvenation”
Test water samples
Educate students and youth on wetlands, bio diversity conservation
Celebrate festivals
Public outreach

The objective of the initiative is to draw attention of the citizens of the country towards ecological challenges faced by the river.