Other states should not say how Ganga should be cleaned: Akhilesh

Irked by Narendra Modi’s remark that why Ganga could not be cleaned like his government had done with Sabarmati, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav on Saturday hit back, saying they don’t need lessons from other states.

“People from other states should not tell how Ganga would get purified. It does not flow in Gujarat. It flows from the mountains in Uttarakhand and converges in the Bay of Bengal,” Mr. Akhilesh said while talking to reporters on the sidelines of an event in Lucknow.

He said Planning Commission should chalk out a plan for the cleaning of Ganga in consultation with groups involved and added that work was already being done in this direction.

A committee under the Prime Minister has been constituted for the cleaning of the Ganga, he said.

“Ganga would not get purified in the day,” the Chief Minister said.

Citing example of the cleaning of Sabarmati river in Gujarat, Mr. Modi had on Friday said if Sabarmati could be cleaned why not Ganga here. He was speaking at a public meeting in Varanasi.

“Prime Minister should give an account on how, when and what has been done for the purification of river Ganga. Thousands of crores of rupees have been spent on a number of schemes for this, but the condition of the river has deteriorated,” Mr. Modi had said.

Talking about the river, Mr. Akhilesh further said the water has the unique quality of purifying itself.

During Maha Kumbh in Allahabad, saints and seers get clear water, he said.

“They (Modi) don’t meet the saints and seers, otherwise they would have told him about that,” he said.

About the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, Mr. Akhilesh said who would be the next Prime Minister would be decided by the people.

“Communal forces are active and they have made lot of preparations. UP and SP will stop such forces,” he said.