NMCG ties up with Diamond Toons to bring behavioural change among children towards Ganga

National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) on Friday tied up with Diamond Toons to develop and distribute comics, e-comics and animated videos to bring behavioural change amongst children towards Ganga and other rivers.

According to the Ministry of Jal Shakti, the estimated budget for the project is Rs 2.26 crores and the comics will be launched initially in Hindi, English and Bengali.

Comic 'Chacha Chaudhary' has been declared as the mascot of the Namami Gange Programme. "Chacha Chaudhary can be useful in ground-level activation for Ganga rejuvenation," the ministry said in a statement.

The decision has been taken at the 37th Executive Committee meeting of the NMCG chaired by its Director General Rajiv Ranjan Mishra.

Mishra said, "NMCG has always been into community engagement with special focus on youth and children. This association will be one more step towards it."

During the meeting, some major projects in Uttar-Pradesh and Bihar were discussed and evaluated.

The Principal Secretary of Environment, Forest, and Climate Change Department of Bihar, Dipak Kumar Singh said in an official statement that India presented a proposal for conserving and sustainably managing Gangetic floodplain wetlands in Bihar. The major components of the project will be wetland inventory and assessment, wetland management planning, wetland's monitoring, and capacity development and outreach.

"The project will be a 100 per cent centrally funded project with an estimated cost of Rs 2.505 crores. The proposal aims at creating a knowledge base and capacities for effective management of floodplain wetlands in the 12 Ganga districts in Bihar to ensure sustained provision of wetlands ecosystem services and securing biodiversity habitats," he further said in a statement.

Kumar Singh also gave an overview of the initiatives taken to conserve Gangetic Dolphins and shared that the government is working on sensitizing local fishermen.

( With inputs from ANI )