NEW DELHI:
Madhya Pradesh
chief minister
Mohan Yadav
has asked officials to ensure meat and liquor are not consumed in
religious towns
located along the Narmada river.
There are 21 districts, 68 tehsils, 1138 villages and 1126 ghats as well as 430 ancient Shiva temples and two ‘shakti peeths’ along the banks of the river.
During a meeting that took place on Friday, CM Mohan Yadav also asked officals that
Amarkantak
in Anuppur district must be given top priority.
Amarkantak is from where Narmada originates. Of the river’s 1312 kilometres, a huge strech of 1,079 km is in Madhya Pradesh.
“It must be ensured that meat and liquor are not consumed in and around the religious towns and places located on the banks of Narmada River. Future settlements, land should be identified away from the Narmada river’s origin and a satellite city should be developed. Sewage should not be released into the Narmada. Work on it must be done within a time limit,” the Madhya Pradesh CM was quoted as sayinb by the news agency PTI.
Latest technologies should be used for
solid waste management
, while satellite imagery and drone systems must be deployed for monitoring of activities along the river in order to enhance
environmental protection
, he said.
The chief minister stressed on the importance of the Narmada river, stating that it is the sole river globally where devotees perform a ‘parikrama’ (circumambulation).
He also declared that all machine-based mining operations should be prohibited in the area.
To transform the ‘parikrama’ into a significant religious and tourist attraction, CM Mohan Yadav proposed the development of a dedicated ‘
parikrama path
‘ for the ease of devotees.
He suggested that this project should be carried out in stages to ensure its successful implementation.
“Activities for infrastructure development should be started through local panchayats and committees by marking places on the Parikrama Path. Self-help groups and local youth should be encouraged to develop homestays with arrangement of food etc for people undertaking parikrama of the river,” Yadav said.
