The series of handmade paintings by about 25000 school children adorned the two sides of the passage which led to banquet hall near Malviya Bhawan in Pandeywala in Jwalapur. To make the dream project of Prime Minister Narendra Modi reach the masses, Sri Ganga Mahasabha of Haridwar organised an art exhibition in which school children from 13 districts of the state participated.
Established 102 years ago, Ganga Mahasabha has taken the clean Ganga mission to the masses and PM Narendra Modi in his message sent greetings to the Ganga Mahasabha which was printed on the appreciation certificates given to school principals who came with their students to participate in the programme.
Speaking to this correspondent, president of Ganga Mahasabha, Purushottam Sharma ‘Gandhiwadi’ said, “It was a big project which took months in execution. Ganga Mahasabha gave printed sheets to schools and they asked their students to draw thematic paintings for Ganga mission. Then these printed sheets with paintings were mounted on walls where everyone could see.”
Explaining the purpose behind such a campaign, he added that it was aimed at encouraging the children to grow up with values which help in keeping the holy river Ganga clean. The slogans and displays at the exhibition, exhorted the public to refrain from actions like washing clothes in the Ganga, throwing waste in the river while encouraging them to worship the Ganga river to conserve environment as a whole.
The exhibition was earlier kicked off by Acharya Balkrishna of Patanjali Yog Peeth and grandson of Madan Mohan Malviya, retired justice Girdhar Malviya, Uttarakhand Assembly Speaker Premchand Agrawal on the weekend. Addressing on the occasion, Agarwal said, “We call Ganga holy and a mother who is also the giver of salvation.
The time has come when it must be cleaned and this cannot happen without the cooperation of the masses.”
Urban development minister Madan Kaushik said that by 2019, the Ganga shall be made clean as envisioned by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi.