New Delhi, Nov 16: The Indian government on Monday assured to conduct a comprehensive research for establishing the medicinal benefits of Ganga river and its related health impact on crores of people taking dip in the holy river.
“We will hold a conference after six months where we will discuss all the research papers and make a coordinated effort in the direction of establishing the health impacts of Ganga water,” Health and Family Welfare Minister J P Nadda said while addressing a workshop here on ‘Non-Putrefying Properties of Ganga Water’.
The minister assured financial support to Indian Council of Medical Research which will conduct the research along with Water Resources and Environment and Health Ministry.
The findings of the research will be published in the form of a declaration, he said.
Bharti said that the biggest challenge was to maintain consistency in cleaning the Ganga due to its religious characteristic.
The minister said that, roughly, more than 20 crore people take dip in the river in a year. The one-day workshop is being attended by scientists, environmentalists and experts from organisations like, NEERI, CSIR, IIT Rourkee and AIIMS.
The workshop will also discuss about the presence of pathogenic bacteria in the river, that is a big concern for human health along with other impacts.
Ganga river is spread across nine states and is utilized as a main water source for many activities, especially for drinking water supply.
