AMN

The five day Ganga Yatra with an aim to create awareness about the holy river started today in Uttar Pradesh. Flagging off the Yatra in Ballia State Governor Anandiben Patel said that those who are living close to this holy river are fortunate people. She said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is taking steps to clean the rivers of country.

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath along with Chief Minister of Uttarakhand Trivendra Singh Rawat and Union Minister Sanjeev Baliyan flagged off the yatra from Bijnor, a place where Ganga enters Uttar Pradesh.

Governor, Anandiben Patel along with Union Minister Mahendra Nath Pandey and Deputy CM of Bihar Sushil Modi started another part of yatra from Ballia in eastern UP, where the holy river exits the state and enters Bihar.

On this occasion, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said in Bijnor that earlier Ganga was very polluted but now after the works under Namami Gange Mission one can see the clean water of the holy river even in the industrial city Kanpur.

The 5-day long yatra under Namami Gange mission started amidst chanting of mantras and performance of Ganga aarti from Bijnor and Ballia. The two yatras will cover more than 1350 kilometer route in 27 districts bother from road and water routes before culminating in Kanpur on January 31 where a grand function will be organised.

Eight Union ministers and many state ministers in-charge of the districts the yatra will pass through will also participate in the yatra at various points.

The Yatra inspired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi aims to promote biodiversity and to make the villages situated on the banks of the holy river more developed and prosperous.