Israel today said it was all ready to be part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s dream project of restoring to river Ganga its past glory.
‘We will be more than happy to cooperate with any Indian entity, government or private, in the task of cleaning the Ganga,’ Israeli Ambassador to India Alon Ushpiz said in an interaction with UNI journalists here.
Mr Modi, who formally took over charge of his office on Tuesday, has created a special Ministry of Ganga rejuvenation headed by Ms Uma Bharati.
The Israeli Ambassador, whose country has made great strides in Water cleaning and water management, said they were aware of Mr Modi’s strong desire for restoring the serenity of the river.
‘ We have been listening to the speeches of the Prime Minister during the election campaign in Varanasi and we have noticed his strong appeal to maintain the sanctity of the Ganga,” Mr Ushpiz said.
The Ambassador said he had been to Varanasi himself and found it ‘one of the most fascinating places in the world’.
‘ We went to the Ganga ghats in Varanasi in the evening to see the ‘Ganga Aarti, a really very fascinating sight,” he said.
Asked whether, the Israeli government was part of any existing Ganga cleaning project, Mr Ushpiz said,” We will be very proud to take part in any such project.’
The Ambassador, however, pointed out that his country was involved in many water-related projects in India. It was part of a water desalination Plant in Gujarat, Tamil Nadu and Hyderabad.
Mr Ushpiz also saw a lot of scope in cooperation in water management with India. He said Israel loses eight per cent of its water in piping it out to destinations, and in India this amount could be higher, and if India could cut it by half using the Israeli method, it would benefit millions of its citizens.
Besides, Israel has a very effective water recycling technology too, he said. UNI NAZ RBS 1033 NNNN
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