DEHRADUN: While the meeting of five stake-holder states in the Ganga clean-up mission was underway at the Forest Research Institute here, Union minister for environment and forests said, "In 1974, there used to be lush forests at the point of origin of the Ganga, Gangotri. Those forests have disappeared. We need to study what kind of trees there were along the Ganga banks and why they were lost before undertaking a new initiative of growing trees." He said trees and water complement each other - if there is water, there will be trees, and vice versa.
He said his government was also sincere in attempts to address shrinkage of glaciers that provide water to rivers. Javadekar said an institute for Himalayan studies would be set up to study glaciers in Uttarakhand.
Despite the dismal levels of pollution in the Ganga, the minister expressed hope that it was still possible to clean the river. In September 2014, the Supreme Court, reading the action plan of Centre to clean the river, asked if it would be possible to clean the Ganga even in 200 years.
Javadekar said, "Of 630 pollution-causing industries in the country, as many as 440 are in Kanpur. Industries need to have modern devices to check water and air pollution. About 68% of sewage is left untreated. Two-thirds of all agricultural waste goes into the Ganga, including pesticide. A third of industrial pollution, despite restrictions, affect our rivers. Still, there is cause for hope - some 60 years ago, the rivers of Europe and America were in the same condition. They improved their rivers. So can we."
