Aiming to make the mighty Ganga river clean, the state government has plans to promote afforestation along the river bank and replace chemical fertilisers with organic fertilisers.
"The plan seeks to encourage organic farming within a radius of 10 km on both banks in 27 districts through which the Ganga flows in the state," a government spokesman said in Lucknow on Monday.
The Yogi Adityanath government 2.0 has set an afforestation target of 6,759 hectares along the Ganga banks spread over 503 places in different districts through which the sacred river flows, in the next six months.
"This will not only help in increasing forest cover and improving climate but also prevent soil erosion, reducing the severity of floods in these areas. A plantation drive has already been launched in Kasganj and some other areas," the spokesman said.
In organic farming, chemical fertilisers and toxic pesticides are replaced by completely organic manure for increasing the yield and protecting the soil. And since the soil of the Gangetic plain gets changed due to floods every year, there is a lot of potential for organic farming in the entire basin.
"Keeping all these factors in mind, experts had recommended that the Gangetic plains be reserved for organic farming. An Organic Agriculture Kumbh was organised by the Organic Farming Association of India in November 2017 at India Expo Centre and Mart, Greater Noida," the official said.
The Yogi government has planned intensive afforestation drives not only along the Ganga banks but also along the banks of its tributaries.
The government aims to plant saplings of medicinal, rare and traditional plants along the Ganga banks and its tributaries.
It is noteworthy that the larger part of the Gangetic plain in India is located in Uttar Pradesh. The river flows through 27 districts of the state including Bijnor, Budaun, Amroha, Meerut, Bulandshahr, Aligarh, Farrukhabad, Kannauj, Kanpur Nagar, Kanpur Dehat, Fatehpur, Prayagraj, Mirzapur and Ghazipur among others.