EVEN AS the masses took the holy dip in the sacred waters of the Ganga, Yamuna and the mythical Saraswati on the occasion of Basant Panchami here today, sants associated with Ganga Pradushan Mukti Samiti refrained from going to the river for ‘snan’.
They had earlier announced not to stop the masses from taking the dip on special bathing days as the same would hurt their feelings.
Onkar Nath Tripathi, associated with the movement, said last evening a group of sants who had gone to the river bank to see the quality of water, came to the conclusion that there was no change in the situation and the water was still unfit for drinking.
The three small sand islands seen in the Ganga on January 30 were in the same position yesterday evening. This reconfirmed their doubt that no extra water was being released from Narora. Whatever little extra water was seen earlier in the river was from several drains which are stopped in the day and the water again released in the night to prove that it was being released from other sources, alleged the saints.
A review meeting is scheduled to be held at the pandal of Shankaracharya Narendra Giri around I pm on Saturday. The meeting will be presided by Shankaracharya Swami Vasudevanad.
{{/usCountry}}A review meeting is scheduled to be held at the pandal of Shankaracharya Narendra Giri around I pm on Saturday. The meeting will be presided by Shankaracharya Swami Vasudevanad.
{{/usCountry}}Saints associated with the movement plan to extend this stir even after the Magh Mela comes to an end as the problem of the pollution in the river persists all year round and is not confined to the annual Magh Mela only.
Meanwhile, a group of sants under the leadership Swami Maheshashramji resident of Kureshetra have planned to leave for Delhi after the Magh Mela and demonstrate before Parliament to pressurise the Central government to ensure a permanent solution to the growing problem of pollution in Ganga.
They will press the government to ensure that all factories discharhing their waste in the Ganga were stopped from doing so. They also planned to carry out a fast unto death at Tehri bandh.