Union Minister for Jal Shakti inaugurates ‘Ganga Utsav 2021 – The River Festival’

What is the News?

Union minister for Jal Shakti has launched several initiatives during the 5th edition of Ganga Utsav.

What are the initiatives launched?

Continuous Learning and Activity Portal (CLAP)

Developed by:  National Mission for Clean Ganga(NMCG)  in association with Tree Craze Foundation.

Purpose of the Portal: It is an interactive portal that is working towards initiating conversations and action around the rivers in India. The Portal is also a platform to facilitate debates and discussions and express ideas on various issues pertaining to the environment, water and rivers.

Funded and supported by: The World Bank. 

Ganga Atlas

It was developed by IIT Kanpur. It documents the changes in River Ganga over the past 5-6 decades in terms of channel morphology, land use & land cover, river dynamics and associated issues.

Ganga Mashal

It is an expedition led by the Ganga Task Force (GTF). They will travel across 23 stations along the river Ganga to help sensitize the local people and organizations like Nehru Yuva Kendra Sangathan(NYKS) and Voluntary groups.

Note: GTF is a unit of a battalion of ex-servicemen deployed in the services of the Ganga with the approval of the Ministry of Defence for the period of four years till December 2020.

Ganga Quest

It is a national online quiz on Ganga, rivers, and the environment. The quiz was first conceptualized in 2019 as an educational program to sensitize children and youth towards River Ganga to strengthen the Namami Gange program.

Source: This post is based on the article “Union Minister for Jal Shakti inaugurates Ganga Utsav 2021 – The River Festival” published in “PIB” on 1st November 2021.