District level Ganga committee has been formed in Mathura, by the District Magistrate Shri Navneet Singh Chahal, in a meeting took place last week. Yamuna being the tributary of Ganga, also comes under the purview of the National Mission for Clean Ganga, the National body constituted to prevent pollution and rejuvenation of the River Ganga.
The Committee is entrusted for taking measures for prevention, control and abatement of environmental pollution in the River Yamuna and to ensure continuous adequate flow of water so as to rejuvenation the River Yamuna to its natural and pristine condition. The District Magistrate is the chairman of the committee and the District Forest Officer is the Member Secretary. The committee also comprises of the Municipal Commissioner, District Development Officer, District Horticulture Officer, Executive Engineer of Public Works Department, Chief Medical Officer, Executive Engineer, drainage and sewerage unit of U.P. Jal Nigam; Deputy Director of Agriculture, Executive Engineer of Upper Agra Canal, the Deputy Commissioner of District Industrial Center. Shri Jagannath Poddar, the Director of ‘Friends of Vrindavan’ has been nominated in the committee as an Environmentalist and Yamuna Enthusiast. ‘Friends of Vrindavan’ is a Non Government Organisation working for the cause of environment protection in the District for 25 Years. It has been pro-active and vocal for the cause of the unpolluted, uninterrupted natural flow in the River Yamuna.
Ministry of Water Resources, River Development, and Ganga Rejuvenation had gazette notified “River Ganga (Rejuvenation, protection and Management) Authorities” vide gazette No. 2458, dated 7 October, 2016 under the section -5 of Environmental (Protection) Act – 1986. In the authority notification, Para 53, District Ganga Committee had to be constituted under the chairmanship of District Magistrate.
