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Dr. G.D. Agarwal, prominent environmental scientist and ex-IIT professor has undertaken two fasts until death (in 2008 and 2009) to protest the building of dams in the Upper Ganga. On both occasions, Dr. Agarwal was successful in stopping thermal damming construction in this sensitive and sacred region of India.

The Central Government has now publicly committed to ceasing any further hydroelectric damming of the Ganga. However, we must all be vigilant in continuing our efforts to protect this iconic river as it is still under threat. In April 2010, Dr Agarwal and other esteemed personalities, including environmental advocate M C Mehta and three Shankararcharyas (representing Dwarka, Joshimath and Puri) have established the Ganga Maha Sangh which is committed towards preserving this majestic rive

Ganga Calling is a project of the Indian Council for Enviro-Legal Action (ICELA). The organization was founded in 1989 to work for environmental protection in India. ICELA works to do the following:

  • To alert the people as to the root causes of environmental destruction in India.
  • To initiate activities against environmental pollution, toxic waste dumping, ecological damage, etc.
  • To collect environmental data and to educate people about environmental protection and environmental laws.
  • To launch and pursue cases against environmental pollution, and for the protection of the quality of the environment.
  • To undertake research projects and work for the improvement of the environment.

click here  to read Dr GD Agarwal's original letter to Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh regarding preservation of Ganga

ICELA
can be contacted at:
Ground Floor, U1 (Middle) Block,
Green Park Extension,
New Delhi 110016
(011) 4175-6519
icelegalaction@gmail.com

About the Honourable Mr. Justice P.N. Bhagwati - President of ICELA

Justice Bhagwati sat with distinction as Chief Justice of India from 1985-86, after serving on the bench Indian Supreme Court (1973-85), and the Gujurat High Court (1960-67). During his twenty-six years on the bench, he pronounced several landmark judgements and was responsible for a number of reforms which resulted in improving the access of vulnerable groups to justice. The most well known of these reforms are the introduction of public interest litigation and enlargement of the doctrine of locus standi to permit NGOs and other social action groups to initiate petitions before the Supreme Court and High Courts on behalf of disadvantaged persons whose human rights are violated. [source: IIGEP]

About M.C. Mehta - General Secretary of ICELA
M.C. Mehta is one of the world's most renowned and successful activists. A lawyer by profession and a committed environmentalist by choice, he has made the fight to protect India's environment his unending mission. He has pioneered legal activism for environmental protection and is proof that one man can make a difference. He is the winner of the Ramon Magsaysay Award for Asia for Public Service (1997) and the Goldman Environmental Prize for Asia (1996).

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