Part of: GS Prelims and GS-I – Culture & GS-III – Environment
In news
Recently, the Ganga Utsav 2020 has begun.
It celebrates the glory of the National river Ganga.
Key takeaways
The National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) celebrates the festival every year.
Aim: To promote stakeholder engagement and ensure public participation.
It celebrates river Ganga through storytelling, dialogues with eminent personalities, displaying traditional art forms, dance and music performance, etc.
Ganga Task Force (GTF) also conducted an afforestation drive with National Cadet Corps (NCC) cadets and educational tour for youth.
Mini Ganga Quest was also held which was designed to make youth and students aware of environmental issues and explain their role in conservation.
Important value additions
River Ganga
It is the longest river of India.
It is revered by Hindus as the most sacred river on earth.
It originates in the Gangotri Glacier in the Himalayas as the Bhagirathi River.
The Ganga river basin is one of the most fertile and densely populated areas of the world.
The Ganges River Dolphin, an endangered animal, specifically habitats this river.
It ends its journey by emptying into the Bay of Bengal.
Ganga was declared as the National River of India on 4th November 2008.
