NEW DELHI, INDIA, November 4, 2008: At a meeting chaired by Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh with Ministries of Water Resources, Environment and Forests and Urban Development in New Delhi today, a decision was taken to declare the Ganga a National River. It also created the Ganga River Basin Authority as an empowered planning, implementing and monitoring authority for the Ganga.
The Prime Minister referred to the special place Ganga has in the hearts and minds of all Indians, and stated that this emotional link needs to be recognized. According to him, the country should set up a model for river cleaning through the new institutional mechanism.