Ankleshwar-Varanasi car rally to focus on river cleanliness

SURAT: A

non-government organization

(NGO) in

Ankleswar

has organized a 4,500km-long car rally from banks of

Narmada river in Ankleshwar

from May 16. Titled ‘Swachha Jal,

Nirmal Jal

’, the rally with five cars will cover 10 rivers and reach banks of Ganga in Varanasi on May 22. The rally is aimed at creating awareness about pollution in rivers.

Chintan Vekariya, project chairman of the rally, said, “We will be creating awareness about river pollution at places that we pass through. We will also plant trees on the shores of the 10 rivers and carry out cleanliness drive there.”

“Young people with who we interact will be asked to take a pledge to keep rivers clean,” he added.

The rally will cover rivers like Vishwamitri, Dudhimati, Shipra, Chambal, Betwa, Swarnarekha, Yamuna, Panchand, Gomti, Sai and Ganga, Triveni Sangam and Teesta.

The holy towns and cities that would be covered in seven days include Bharuch, Vadodara, Ujjain, Kota, Jhansi, Gwalior, Mathura, Agra, Etawah, Kanpur, Allahabad, Varanasi, Patna, Gangtok, New Jalpaiguri, Guwahati and Itanagar.

“The objective is to create awareness and tell people about benefits of keeping rivers clean and saving our natural resources, flora, fauna, fisheries and green ecosystem of nature. We will also ask people to stop industries from dumping waste into the river and prevent illegal constructions on the river banks,” said Deepak Roy, coordinator of the rally.

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