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Kalam wants Seechewal to cleanse
Yamuna now
WSN Network
 SULTANPUR LODHI:
Former
President of
India Dr A.P.J.
Abdul Kalam has requested renowned environmentalist Baba Balbir
Singh Seechewal to takeup the task of cleaning up the 22- km
stretch of the Yamuna in Delhi. Kalam, who was here to preside over
a function to mark the eighth anniversary of community efforts to
rejuvenate the 160km-long Kali Bein rivulet, said political parties
must come forward to conserve environment to ensure better health of
citizens. "Before exercising their franchise, voters should question
political leaders about steps being taken to ensure a clean
environment and preservation and purification of natural water
resources. The electorate should set the agenda for the parties,"
Kalam said.
Kalam witnessed the work done by Seechewal and his followers to give
a new lease of life to the once-polluted Kali Bein, where Guru Nanak
Dev got enlightenment. "Now that the sanctity of Kali Bein has been
restored, I will suggest to Baba Seechewal and his team to take
charge of the campaign to clean up the Yamuna, which is now
responsible for 80 per cent of the pollution in a 22-km stretch.
Making Yamuna clean is a national challenge," he said.
The former
President said religious leaders should play a proactive role in
sensitising their followers about ill-effects of pollution and
channel their energies to get polluted ater bodies cleaned at
panchayat, city or state levels. Baba Seechewal's model for
rejuvenating Kali Bein should be replicated in the rest of the
country, he added.
Supporting the
Indo-US nuclear deal, Kalam said it would help India become
self-reliant in the energy sector. "We are presently dependent on
fossil fuel energy imported from some countries. Nuclear energy is a
clean solution, though costlier than other sources, but it will help
us become self-reliant," he added. On apprehensions about
nonavailability of proper disposal systems to handle nuclear waste,
Kalam said the country had 14 nuclear reactors while another 10
reactors were coming up.
"These reactors
are fully equipped to handle nuclear waste," he said, adding that
the 123 deal would enable India to purchase nuclear ingredients not
only from the
USA
but from across the world. Kalam also inaugurated
Nawan
Nankana
Charitable
School
set up on the banks of the Kali Bein to impart free education to
slum children. Later, Baba Seechewal honoured Kalam with a robe of
honour and a portrait of the clean Kali Bein amid slogans of "Bole
So Nihal Sat Sri Akal".
29
July, 2008
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