Congress leader Pl Punia who is also the party in-charge for Chhattisgarh, took a dig on Sunday at Central Government’s “Namami Gange” project and said the project failed to live up to people’s expectations.
He also claimed that it was Congress party Government at the centre that had first launched Ganga river purification project when late Rajiv Gandhi was the Prime Minister.
Punia was basically reacting to a statement of Union Minister of State for Water Resources, Arjun Meghwal who said on Sunday in Chhattisgarh that it was BJP government which through ‘Namami Gange’ project had initiated the move to purify the holy Ganga river.
Meghwal said that ‘Namami Gange’ project had been started to clean the river which passes across 91 cities before merging with Bay of Bengal.
He informed that water treatment plants have to be set up at various places in order to purify the river water.
While talking to media persons here at New Circuit House, Punia rejected the statement of the union minister and said Modi government had now completed four years in office but till now the project of ‘Namami Gange’ was still a non-starter.
“The BJP Government at the Centre is falsely taking the credit for Ganga river purification as the initiative was being actually taken during the Congress Government tenure,’’ Punia said.
He further said that the former Union Minister for Water Resources, Uma Bharti had once said that if she failed to clean the Ganga river water she would meet watery-grave in the Ganga.
Taking a jibe at her reported statement, Punia said, “even after four years have passed the Ganga river water is still polluted and now where is Uma Bharti who had taken the pledge for watery grave”IJ