A nationwide plantation drive would be organised on Tuesday to mark the first anniversary of the Uttarakhand tragedy, Union Water Resources Minister Uma Bharti on Monday announced.
She told reporters in New Delhi that the drive will be held in Gangotri, Haridwar, Kanpur, Allahabad, Varanasi, Patna, Nabadwip and Ganga Sagar (both in West Bengal) and the national capital.
"It is an initiative to re-introduce plants with medicinal value that originate from the glaciers. For example, in the case of Gangotri from where Ganga originated, the place had several medicinal plants, which gave Ganga some special properties," she said.
Bharti said that her ministry will take initiatives to repair the embankments of rivers, which were damaged during the flash floods, under the Flood Management Plan (FMP) with cooperation from the ministries of environment and tourism.
"Efforts would be taken to protect the tributaries of Ganga such as Bhagirathi, Mandakini and Alaknanda in Uttarakhand. It would be carried out in cooperation with the ministries of environment and tourism," she said, adding the Centre and the Uttarakhand government would work hand-in-hand in this regard.
Bharti further said that the Central Water Commission has been instructed to provide warnings about the increase in water level of lakes of more than 50 hectares in size and located on high altitude.
The Commission will pass on these information to the states concerned, she added.
Bharti is slated to plant saplings in memory of the Kedarnath tragedy victims along the banks of Yamuna river in New Delhi on Tuesday.
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