IIT Roorkee Students to Raise Rs 50 L For ‘Clean Ganga’ Campaign

The students have taken to crowdfunding to raise Rs 50 lakh for building bio-toilets on the ghats of river Ganga.

The polluted banks and waters of the river Ganga at Varanasi. (Photo: Reuters)

Students at IIT-Roorkee have taken to crowdfunding to raise Rs 50 lakh for building bio-toilets on the ghats of river Ganga and design drones to monitor water pollution as their contribution to "Clean Ganga" campaign.

Named 'Aviral Ganga', the campaign by IIT-Roorkee students highlights the degradation of the holy river despite the Centre's efforts to clean it.

An announcement about the initiative, which is guided by the UNESCO, the UNEP, the Centre for Environment Education and the South Asian Youth Environment Network (SAYEN), was made at the inaugural day of IIT-Roorkee's annual fest "Cognisance".

A team of 70 students from IIT Roorkee, guided by the faculty members, will be holding a series of events throughout the year to raise funds to the tune of Rs 50 lakh for the cause. It will then be handed over to the partnering NGO Shuddhi which will take up the further task of building bio-toilets.

Anant Pratap Singh, Convenor for the campaign

He added that during the festival, a drone-making competition will be organised to construct drones that are “capable of monitoring pollution levels of rivers and other water bodies.” Faculty members are likely to raise around Rs 10 lakh for the campaign, Singh said.

Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu, who was scheduled to inaugurate the three-day conference, could not attend the programme but his video message was played at the event.

Prabhu sought proposals for similar projects to help the Railway Ministry in its functioning.

(With inputs from PTI)