River Ganga is a holy river but given how much it has been dirtied in the past several years shows the lack of concern. However, National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) was formed in 2011 to take measures for prevention, control and abatement of environmental pollution in river Ganga and to ensure continuous adequate flow of water so as to rejuvenate the river. NMCG has selected self-motivated and trained volunteers from among the local communities, they are called 'Ganga Praharis' or the Guardians of the Ganga.
The Ganga Praharis work for biodiversity conservation and cleanliness of the holy river with the ultimate objectives of restoring the 'Nirmal' and `Aviral' Dhara of the pious river.
A group of about 500 trained volunteers or Ganga praharis are reaching to each and every house in areas along river Ganga to educate them about the importance of protecting the river's bio-diversity.
They are spread over Ganga basin states of Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Bihar and West Bengal.
Rajiv Ranjan Mishra, Director General of NMCG said, "We have selected some motivated local volunteers and given them some training and then we have a regular outreach programme. We keep them updating them about our programmes and the idea is that every village should ultimately have a Ganga prahari so that they will be our representative and they will further train people and school people and all that".
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Ruchi Badola, a scientist and senior professor at Wildlife Institute of India in Dehradun said, "The Ganga praharis, in fact, take part in a lot of rescue and rehabilitation. Whenever any wildlife along the Ganga comes out, turtles, Dolphins or crocodile, it is the Ganga praharis in all the five states, because they have been trained, who actually come forward and inform the concerned authorities and make sure that particular animal living or dead, should go to wherever it is necessary at that point in time".
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Recently, an IAS officer Ravindra Kumar of Uttar Pradesh cadre, has a message for the nation from atop Mount Everest, which he scaled with gangajal (water from River Ganga) in the recently concluded climbing season.
Kumar, who is currently posted in Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation in Government of India, scaled the peak on May 23. He named his expedition as "Swachh Ganga Swachh Bharat Everest Abhiyaan 2019.