PM’s address at inauguration of six mega projects under Namami Gange in Uttarakhand

Governor of Uttarakhand, Smt Baby Rani Maurya ji, Chief Minister Shri Trivendra Singh Rawat ji, my Cabinet colleagues Shri Gajendra Singh Shekhawat ji, Dr. Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank ji, Shri Ratan Lal Kataria ji, other officials and my brothers and sisters of Uttarakhand! I bow down to the holy land of Uttarakhand, which ensconces in it the sanctity of Chaar Dham (four abodes). Today, 6 mega projects have been launched to ensure the cleanliness of the mother Ganga. It also includes projects such as sewage treatment plants and museums in Haridwar, Rishikesh, Badrinath and Muni ki Reti. I congratulate all my friends of Uttarakhand for all these projects. Friends, A short while ago, the beautiful logo and the Mission Guide of Jal Jeevan Mission have also been released. Jal Jeevan Mission is a massive campaign to deliver potable water to every household in the villages. The logo of the mission will constantly inspire us about the necessity to save every drop of water. At the same time, this guide is as important for the people of the village & gram panchayat as is necessary for the government machinery. It is a great means of ensuring the success of the project. Friends, It has also been explained in detail in the book which has been released today, how Ganga is a great symbol of our cultural splendour, faith and heritage. The Ganges enriches the lives of nearly half of the country’s population, from its origins in Uttarakhand to Ganga Sagar in West Bengal. Therefore the cleanliness of the Ganges is necessary; the uninterrupted flow of Ganga ji is necessary. In the previous decades, massive campaigns were started for cleaning the Ganga water. But there was neither public participation nor foresightedness in those campaigns. As a result, the water of the Ganges could never be cleant. Friends, If the same old methods were adopted for the cleanliness of the Ganges water, the situation would have been equally poor today. But we moved forward with a new thinking and a new approach. We have not limited the Namami Gange Mission to the cleanliness of Ganga ji, but have turned it into the largest and the most comprehensive river conservation programme in the country. The government is working with a four pronged strategy simultaneously. First – we have started laying a network of Sewage Treatment Plants to prevent the polluted water from flowing into the Ganges. Secondly, building such sewage treatment plants that can meet the needs of the next 10-15 years; thirdly, to make hundred big cities/towns and five thousand villages situated on the banks of river Ganga free from open defecation and fourth- using all means to stop the pollution of Ganga ji’s tributaries. Friends, Today we are all witnessing the results of this comprehensive approach. Today, projects worth more than Rs 30,000 crores are either underway or have been completed under the Namami Gange programme. Today, besides the projects which have been launched, almost all the major projects in Uttarakhand under this campaign have been completed. These projects worth thousands of crores have increased the capacity of sewage treatment in Uttarakhand by almost 4 times in just 6 years. Friends, The situation in Uttarakhand was such that waste water from more than 130 drains of Gangotri, Badrinath, Kedarnath and Haridwar used to flow into Ganga ji. Today most of these drains have been plugged. It also includes the Chandreshwar Nagar drain of ‘Muni ki Reti’ adjacent to Rishikesh. Visitors to Gangaji or rafters used to face a lot of trouble due to this drain. The first four-storey Sewage Treatment Plant of the country has been inaugurated here today. In Haridwar too, more than 20 such drains have been closed. Friends, Ganga ji’s cleanliness was experienced by devotees from all over the world in Prayagraj Kumbh. Now during the Haridwar Kumbh, the whole world will have the experience of bathing in the clean Ganges. And constant efforts are going on for the same. Friends, Under the Namami Gange Mission, hundreds of ghats on Gangaji are being beautified and construction of modern riverfront for Ganga Vihar is also being done. The riverfront in Haridwar is ready. Now, with the setting up of the Ganga Museum, this place is going to become even more attractive. This museum is going to be a medium for tourists visiting Haridwar to understand the heritage associated with Ganga. Friends, Now the Namami Gange Abhiyan is being taken to a new level. Apart from the cleanliness of the Ganges, now there is a focus on the development of the economy and environment of the entire area adjacent to the Ganges. A comprehensive plan has been formulated by the government to provide benefits of organic farming and ayurvedic plant farming to the farmers of all states including Uttarakhand. Besides planting trees on both sides of Ganga ji, a corridor for organic farming is also being developed. These projects to improve Ganga water are now going to get an impetus from Mission Dolphin in the plains. On August 15, the Mission Dolphin has been announced. This mission will further boost the work of increasing dolphin population in Ganga ji. Friends, Today the country has come out of the era where money used to drain out like water, but the results were not visible. Today money neither drains out like water nor does it sink in water, but every penny is spent on water. Our situation here was such that an important subject like water was scattered across several ministries and departments. In these ministries, there was no coordination among the departments, nor any clear guidelines for working towards the same goal. As a result, the problems related to irrigation or drinking water in the country continued to deteriorate. Just imagine, even after so many years of independence, piped drinking water did not reach over 15 crore households. The situation was similar in thousands of households of Uttarakhand too. In the villages of the mountains, where it is difficult to even commute our mothers, sisters and daughters had to face a lot of difficulties in arranging drinking water. They had to leave their studies. To overcome these problems, the Ministry of Jal Shakti was formed to help resolve all the water related challenges of the country. I am glad that within a very short time, the Ministry of Jal Shakti is handling the situation properly. Apart from dealing with the challenges related to water, now this Ministry is engaged in the mission of delivering water to every household, to every village of the country. Today, under the Jal Jeevan Mission, every day about 1 lakh families are being connected to the facility of potable drinking water. In just 1 year, drinking water has been delivered to more than 2 crore families of the country. Here in Uttarakhand, Trivendra ji and his team have taken a step forward to give water connection at just 1 rupee. I am glad that the Uttarakhand government has set a target of providing water to every household in the state by 2022. Even in this period of Corona pandemic, i.e. during the past 4-5 months, more than 50,000 families of Uttarakhand have been given water connections. It shows the commitment of the Uttarakhand Government. Friends, Jal Jeevan Mission is not only a campaign to deliver water to the village and to the houses of the poor but also a campaign to boost and strengthen the idea of Gram Swaraj and to empower the villages. This is also an example of how there has been a complete transformation in the working of the government. Earlier, government schemes were often framed in Delhi. All these decisions like where the tank will be built, where will the pipelines be laid, in which villages, were taken mostly in the capital cities. But the Jal Jeevan mission has now changed this entire pattern. Now the right has been given to the people of the villages to decide all the things related to water in the village like the location of the project, the preparation etc. The entire arrangement from planning of water projects to their maintenance and operation will be done by Gram Panchayats and water committees. It has also been ensured that 50% of the members of the water committees would be the sisters and daughters of the villages. Friends, These guidelines which have been released today will be of greatest use to these sisters-daughters, members of the water committee and the members of the Panchayat. I firmly believe that no one else apart from our mothers and sisters would know better the problems related to water, the value of water and the way the need for water brings both convenience and crisis. And so, when the entire task related to water goes into the hands of mothers and sisters, they are bound to perform this task with great sensitivity, responsibility and will lead to positive results. They will show the people of the village a direction and will help them to take decisions. I believe that the Jal Jeevan Mission has given an opportunity to the people of the village to rid it from water problems. I am told that Jal Jeevan Mission is going to start another campaign from 2nd October i.e. Gandhi Jayanti. It is a special 100-day campaign under which piped water connections will be provided to every school and every Anganwadi in the country. I wish this campaign a great success. Friends, Be it Namami Gange campaign, Jal Jeevan Mission or Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, many such programmes have been a part of major reforms during the last 6 years. These are the reforms that are helpful in bringing positive changes in the lives of the common people and the social system forever. In the last 1-1.5 years, it has got further momentum. The Parliament session that has just concluded has seen major reforms in the sectors related to the farmers, workers and health. With these reforms, the workers, the youth, the women and the farmers of the country will be empowered. But today the country is seeing how some people are protesting just for the sake of protesting. Friends, A few days ago, the country has freed its farmers from many shackles. Now the farmer of the country can sell his produce to anyone, anywhere. But today when the central government is giving the farmers their rights, these people have started protesting. These people don’t want the farmers of the country to sell their produce in the open market. These people want the vehicles of the farmers to continue to get seized; they want the farmers to get looted and the middlemen to make profit by buying grains at a lower price. They are opposing the freedom of the farmers. These people are now humiliating the farmers by setting fire to the things that they worship. Friends, For years these people kept on saying that they would implement MSP but did not. Our government did the work of implementing the MSP as per the recommendations of the Swaminathan Commission. Today these people are spreading confusion among the farmers on the MSP itself. There will not only be MSP in the country but at the same time the farmers will also have the freedom to sell their produce anywhere. But some people are unable to tolerate this freedom. They are having problems because another means of earning black money has ended. Friends, During this period of Corona, the country has seen how Digital India campaign, Jan Dhan bank accounts and RuPay card have helped people. But you might remember, when our government started this work, how these people were opposing it! In their eyes, the poor of the country, the people living in the country’s villages were illiterate and ignorant. These people have always opposed the idea of creating bank accounts for the poor of the country or the idea of the poor engaging in digital transactions. Friends, The country has also seen that these people have also opposed the concept of One Nation-One Tax – GST. Due to the GST, the tax on household goods in the country has come down drastically. On most of the household goods and kitchen essentials, there is either 0 or less than five per cent tax. Earlier these things used to be taxed more and the people had to spend more money from their pockets. But, you see, these people also have problems with GST; they make fun of it and oppose it. Friends, These people are neither with the farmer, nor with the youth nor with the soldiers. You might remember, when our government brought One Rank One Pension, thousands of ex-servicemen of Uttarakhand were also given their rights. At that time too, these people were protesting. Since the implementation of One Rank-One Pension, the Government has given about 11 thousand crore rupees as arrears to ex-servicemen. Here in Uttarakhand, more than one lakh ex-servicemen have benefited from this scheme. But there has always been a problem with these people for implementing One Rank-One Pension. These people have also opposed One Rank-One Pension. Friends, For years, these people did nothing to strengthen the country’s forces, the country’s Air Force. The Air Force kept saying that they needed modern fighter aircrafts. But these people kept ignoring the demands of the Air Force. When our government directly signed the Rafale fighter aircraft deal with the French government, then they started having problems again. Rafale was inducted into the Indian Air Force which increased the strength of the Indian Air Force. Yet they have been opposing it. I am glad that today Rafale is increasing the strength of the Indian Air Force. Its roar from Ambala to Leh is encouraging the Indian brave-hearts. Friends, About four years ago, the country’s brave-hearts had carried out surgical strikes and destroyed the terror bases. But instead of praising the courage of our men, these people were asking for evidence of surgical strikes. By opposing the surgical strikes too, these people have revealed their true colours and intentions in front of the country. It has become a habit for these people to oppose everything that is being done for the country. This is the only political strategy that they posses – oppose! Remember, at the initiative of India, when the whole world was celebrating International Yoga Day, these people in India were opposing it. When the world’s tallest statue of Sardar Patel, who had done the historic work of accession of hundreds of princely states with the country, was being unveiled, these people were still opposing it. Till date, no major leader from their side has visited the Statue of Unity. Why is it so? Because they have to resist! Friends, Even when the 10 per cent reservation for the poor was decided, they stood against it. When it was decided to celebrate Constitution Day on 26th November, they were opposing it. They were opposing Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar. Friends, Bhoomipujan has been done for the construction of the grand Ram temple in Ayodhya just last month. These people were first opposing the Ram temple in the Supreme Court and then started opposing the Bhoomipujan. With every passing day, these people who are protesting just for the sake of protest are becoming irrelevant for the country and the society. It is a quiver, restlessness, frustration and despair for them. Four generations of a family from this Party have ruled the country. Today they want to satiate their selfish motives by riding on the shoulders of others and opposing everything related to the national interest. Friends, There are many such small parties in our country, which never got a chance to come to power. Since their inception, they have spent much time in opposition. Despite being in the opposition for so many years, they have never opposed the country, or worked against the country’s interests. But some people have been in opposition for a few years. The country can clearly see and understand their strategy and attitude today. Notwithstanding their selfish motives, these major reforms for a self-reliant India in the interest of the country; to enhance the resources of the country; to liberate the country from the poverty and to make the country stronger will continue. Once again, heartiest congratulations to all of you for the development projects! Again I would urge you all to take care of yourself. Stay healthy stay safe! May the grace of Baba Kedar be with us. Thanks a lot! Jai Gange!