BHOPAL: During the discussion on the government resolution on giving the status of living entity to Narmada River in Vidhan Sabha on Wednesday, the opposition charged CM Shivraj Singh of using the Narmada Sewa Yatra for his personal publicity and for mobilising the majority community. The Congress members said the Yatra was a ‘ritual, gimmick and an electoral exercise.’
“The Yatra is an insult to Narmada. You are calling small-time actors and actresses to the Yatra. They drink liquor, enjoy sumptuous food, pocket their fees and make perfunctory statements about how great the Yatra is,” said Congress MLA Mukesh Nayak.
Govind Singh said the Yatra was being used for marketing and branding the CM. “You have wasted hundreds of crores of rupees from the public exchequer. You have converted it into a religious yatra, a political yatra.”
He said the hoardings of the Yatra had been put up at Heathrow and Los Angles airports. ‘Where was the need for it?’ he asked. He said sand was being mined from the river bed with impunity by the mining mafia. “Why don’t you stop it instead of getting yourself photographed carrying matkis on your head?” he asked.
Mahendra Singh Kalukheda was critical of the government concentrating only on Narmada. “What sins have the people living on the banks of Kshipra, Sindh, Parvati and Betwa rivers committed?” he asked.
Ramniwas Rawat said the resolution was only a formality. There were 59 towns on the banks of the river and all of them were pouring their sewage into the river. Not a single sewage treatment plant had been established anywhere – so much for the government’s love for Narmada.
