Dam stopped
Work on the Loharinag Pala Hydro Power Project was stopped when Agrawal came close to dying on the 38th day of his fast in protest of the harnessing of the river Bhagirathi. In a letter dated 19 February 2009 to Agrawal, the Ministry of Power stated that it had ordered immediate suspension of work on the Loharinag-Pala Hydropower Project on the Bhagirathi River. In response Agrawal ended his fast the next morning at 11:00 am. The Indian government agreed to speed up its inquiry into how electricity could be generated without the flow of the Ganges being impeded.
National Ganges River Basin Authority
His campaign was taken up by leaders of the opposition party who called for stopping all dam constructions upstream of the river. The Government of India was quick to commit itself to ensuring perennial environmentally acceptable flows throughout the river and also informing Agarwal of the same. The Government then went a step ahead and declared the Ganges a National River and set up the National Ganga River Basin Authority (NGRBA) as an empowered planning, implementing and monitoring authority for the Ganges.
On 4 November 2009, in New Delhi, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, also the chairman of NGRBA, directed concerned officials to expedite setting up of a National Ganges River Basin Research Institute (NGRBRI). The Centre for Environmental Studies and Technology (CEST), Banaras Hindu University was named as the research institute to act as knowledge centre for collection and analysis of all relevant data regarding the Ganges basin.
Objectives of NGRBRI :
To generate basic ecological data required by NGBRA for short and long-term planning of sustainable development of the Ganges River basin
To investigate the hydrology and pollution problems along the river basin
To study social, cultural and religious dimensions and develop eco-friendly technologies for sustainable development
To act as knowledge centre for collection and analysis of all relevant data regarding the Ganges basin
To develop long-term models for future planning for maintaining water quality and its sustainable varied uses
On 10 February 2010, Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Environment and Forests Jairam Ramesh, addressing the Ganges- Yamuna summit organised by the Nehru Memorial Library and Museum said:
"I have said in the Parliament that India is a civilisation of rivers, and it should not become a land of tunnels."
He said some new projects on Bhagirathi River would not be allowed. "There are no two opinions. There is just one mass opinion that the projects proposed on the river Bhagirathi, named Pala Maneri and Bhaironghati projects, will not be entertained any further by the government."
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