Meerut: UP government, in collaboration with the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) has started an initiative to sensitize young minds about the Ganga and ways to conserve it. A programme, "water school students", was started to engage school children in the topic so they can become “young environment leaders” of tomorrow.According to Yogita Singh, project officer, water school project, “The aim is to sensitize communities, including those in urban areas, towards Ganga conservation. A special 5-day course per academic session has been developed by us, which includes a hands-on experience (walk by river banks), interaction with riparian communities, practical knowledge of conservation of aqua diversity, gharial and turtle conservation.”In the first phase of the project, 70 schools of Meerut and Bijnor have been roped in. Keeping with this, Ganga Haritima Abhiyan was celebrated on Saturday in Meerut, where several school students participated in competitions revolving around water conservation.Through the initiative of WWF-India, in collaboration with UP Forest Department, gharials were re-introduced in the Ganga in 2009 and at present, their population in the river is 700. The campaign urges and motivates people to nurture or adopt at least one tree.According to Sanjeev Yadav, programme coordinator, WWF, “Urban centres like Meerut and Bulandshahr are a bit cut off from water bodies, which is why people here, especially the younger lot, are less likely to understand their importance. This is the reason this initiative has been taken. Once these children undergo a positive change, they will change the society for the better.”According to divisional forest officer (DFO), Meerut, Aditi Sharma, “During our previous interactions with the students of Meerut, we were surprised to see that they didn’t know the Ganga was just 30 km away from them. Through these activities, we want to draw their attention towards the river and also understand the problems it is facing. Secondly, the student water programme also has a provision for one-person-one-tree concept, which means that one person will plant at least one tree to sustain the environment.”

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