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Former students of the IIT
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31/08/2009 |
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Ashish Kumar |
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The group
'IITians for Holy Ganga' is demanding immediate stoppage of work on the hydro
electric projects on the Ganges river in its traverse through the upper reaches
of the Himalayas.
A professor from IIT-Kanpur, GD Aggarwal, has been
sitting on a hunger strike since Jan 13 in the national capital with similar
demands.
"We want an uninterrupted flow of the river Ganga in its
original channel stretching around 125 km between Gangotri and Uttarkashi in
Uttarkhand. However, the central government has begun constructing hydro
electric projects in the stretch which is likely to dry majority of the river,"
said Paritosh Tyagi, an IIT Roorkee alumnus and former chairman of Central
Pollution Control Board.
The group has demanded that work on the
Lahoari Nag Pala Hydro Electric Project in the stretch be stopped immediately.
"Following our demands, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had decided to
form a Ganga Basin Authority to look after the management of the basin. But
despite this the National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) is continuing the
Lohari Nag Pala project," said Magsaysay awardee Rajendra Singh, who has also
joined the group.
KK Dhar, an IIT Delhi alumnus, said: "We want that
government to stop the project and let the Ganga Basin Authority examine all
issues in great depth".
The members also expressed concern for the
deteriorating health condition of Aggarwal and asked the prime minister to
immediately look into the matter.
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