Amid reports about the National Green Tribunal pulling up officials in Uttarakhand for their alleged indifference to the Ganga pollution, Chief Minister Harish Rawat on Saturday said the State makes the biggest contribution to environment conservation in the country.
“We have been constantly expanding our green cover. We are making water conservation efforts despite our limited resources.”
“I think Uttarakhand is the biggest contributor to the country’s environment conservation endeavours,” Mr. Rawat told reporters when asked to comment on the NGT taking a strong exception to the State government’s alleged indifference to pollution in the Ganga.
According to reports the National Green Tribunal has pulled up officials in Uttarakhand for their alleged indifference to the Ganga pollution and directed the Union Ministry of Water Resources not to release the budget for the Ganga cleaning to the state.
When asked about an alleged ban on the entry of Dalits into the State’s temples, Nr. Rawat said no such ban existed anywhere in the State.
Social amity
“Uttarakhand is known for its culture of social amity. People are not enquired about their caste identity even while entering Badrinath and Kedarnath shrines which are considered major centres of Hindu faith in the Himalayas,” he said.
A report was recently carried out in a section of the local media recently alleging that a Dalit couple was denied entry into a temple in a village in Dehradun district. - PTI
