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Waterman Rajendra Singh says Narmada yatra was political

BHOPAL: Six months after participating in the Narmada Parikrama Yatra of Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, well-known water conservationist and Stockholm water prize recipient Rajendra Singh feels cheated.

The waterman of India has said that none of the issues that were raised by him in the yatra have been addressed. Singh said that next time he would give it an ample thought before he agrees to take part in any invitations from Chouhan.

Addressing a press conference here on Thursday, Singh said that he had raised the issue of demarcation of rivers to check encroachments and pollution of the holy River Narmada by various religious gurus. Both the issues were raised in Amarkantak asking the chief minister to look into the matter. “But, both of them remained untouched”, Singh said.

When asked whether the Narmada yatra was political, Singh said, “Now, it actually appears that it was a political show. I will be happy if the trees that were planted for the record survive and grow and the water level in the Narmada goes up.”

Referring to the rally for river initiated by Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev — without referring his name — Singh said recently a baba took out a high-profile rally and the chief ministers of 16 states came out in his support but it is hardly going to help revive the rivers.

“In fact, the brains of babas and politicians work much faster, 100 times faster to hijack an issue. Because of rising global warming and climate change, the issue of reviving rivers is in vogue”, Singh said.

Expressing concern over the impact due to climate change, he said both the droughts and floods are taking place with alarming regularity. “The occurrence of floods has gone up by 8 times, while the frequency of droughts has gone by 10 times. The governments must work seriously on the issue, which doesn’t seem to be on their priority list,” the water conservationist said.

Singh said that a two-day national water convention (Rashtriya Jal Sammelan) will be held at Khajuraho on December 2 and 3. He said that 13 districts of Bundelkhand region that falls in Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh, the drought situation is severe. “There is a crisis in mitti (soil) and pani ( water)”, Singh said.

Source : timesofindia



This post first appeared on Daily Kiran, please read the originial post: here

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Waterman Rajendra Singh says Narmada yatra was political

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