Can we really save the Ganga by 2020?

Lucknow, October 30, 2018

Media Briefing and Release of Down To Earth magazine’s special cover

The government would have us believe that the Ganga will run clean very soon. The deadline, which was 2019, has been now moved to 2020. 

If that happens, it will most certainly be a tremendous achievement by any standards. Efforts to clean the river had begun way back in 1986 with the launch of the Ganga Action Plan. Much grimy water and money has flown down the river since, with very little to show for it. What makes the government so confident that things will change? 

CSE organized aMedia Briefing in Lucknowon October 30, 2018 to understand what has been done over all these years, what is being done currently, and whether any of this action to save the Ganga will serve the purpose.A special cover of Down To Earth (Hindi) magazine, on Ganga,was released on the occasion. About 25 journalists from four key Ganga basin states – Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Bihar and West Bengal – participated.