The decision of Prof G.D. Agarwal, who has been on a 'fast unto death' for the past week against power projects on the Ganga, to direct his agitation against the Central government following the shelving of two power projects by the BJP state government has politicised the issue. While Agarwal refused to end his fast and decided to target the Union government, the Uttarakhand Congress leaders alleged that the 'Sangh Parivar' has hijacked his agitation for their petty political interests. Interestingly, the state government has promised to support him in his fight against the Centre.

SHISHIR PRASHANT The Uttarakhand government today decided not to go ahead with construction of two major hydel projects on the Bhagirathi river in the wake of the fast-unto-death by GD Agrawal, an environmentalist spearheading the "save Bhagirathi" campaign. The decision to put off construction of the 480-Mw Pala Maneri project and the 400-Mw Bhairon Ghati project was taken at a cabinet meeting presided over by Chief Minister BC Khanduri, a state government official said.

Climate change and reckless construction have dried up the "Water Bank' of the country

Despite fears that the flow of the Bhagirathi, the main tributary of the Ganga, is falling in volume, the government has said there is no such threat to the river and the "natural' receding of the Gangotri glacier does not require any corrective measures. "Gomukh is the ice cave of Gangotri glacier through which the river Bhagirathi emerges from the glacier. Therefore, the question of Ganga going far away from the main source does not arise,' earth sciences minister Kapil Sibal informed the Parliament.

Recent pictures taken by Google Earth via satellite have confirmed the worst fears of environmentalists. An eight-km stretch of the Bhagirathi river has dried up. The river is shown snaking through the Himalayan mountains as one long, sandy stretch minus any water. Other rivers emanating from the Gangotri glacier, including the Bhilangana, the Assi Ganga and the Alaknanda, all tributaries of the Ganga river, are also drying up. This same dry stretch of the Bhagirathi in 2004, according to Google Earth pictures generated at that time, was one-km-long.

People living near the Tehri dam on the Bhagirathi river in Uttarakhand are in trouble. Villages on the slopes overlooking the reservoir are threatened by increasing landslides and those living

Old Tehri town and several villages go under water following a court order to close the diversion canal and dam the Bhagirathi, while the scattered families' demands for compensation are yet to mat

following loud protests from various corners against closing of tunnels on the Bhagirathi river, the Tehri dam committee has recommended a comprehensive study to find out if the Ganga holds