Bhopal: “River Narmada is in extremely bad shape. I haven’t seen six crores saplings planted by the state government on the banks of the river in MP during the trek.
At the most there are around 50,000 to 60,000 saplings still alive on the riverbank across the state.” said ex-chief minister Digvijay Singh in his address to media.
He said, “This marks the culmination of my 20 years old resolve to perform the Narmada Parikrama with the blessings of Jagadguru Shankaracharya. I.”
Taking a dig on sadhu and sanyasi as a minister for state status he said, “I respect sadhus and sanyasis (seers), but the manner in which some of them shelved their plans to expose alleged Narmada Ghotala after being granted MoS status is a matter of concern. The CM now needs to tell the state what special powers have been conferred to these five seers granted MoS status.”
He blamed the Union Government on the ST/ST atrocity case in the Supreme Court. Singh avoided his political plans including 5-years- old self-exile from MP state politics but his wife Amrita Rai dropped enough hints about her future, “I consider myself fortunate that I was able to complete the sacred trek with my husband successfully. It was not only a religious pilgrimage, but also a social trek, which made us know the real problems of people living in vicinity of the river. While at some places, the river’s natural beauty was for all to see, at many other places the river has turned into small stream full of pits. I pray Mother Narmada to give me the will power so that I can work in future for its uninterrupted flow,” said Rai. Singh is likely to meet with Congress national president Rahul Gandhi shortly in Delhi, where his future political role is likely to be finalised.
