Green Tribute to the 2013 Uttarakhand Floods

In remembrance of the tragic ‪#floods that ravaged ‪#Uttarakhand in 2013, three years ago, a special prayer took place in Parmarth Niketan. The prayer ceremony also marked the completion of the three day, on-going ‪#GangaDussehra celebrations, in which HH Pujya Swami Chidanand Saraswatiji, President of Parmarth Niketan (Rishikesh), consistently emphasized the critical importance of protecting and preserving our ‪#environment and our sacred ‪#rivers.
During the ceremony, a beautiful lamp was lit and ‪#tree saplings were bestowed to all participants, who held them in loving memory of the lives taken by the tragedy. Concluding the event was a moment of silence followed by chanting for ‪#peace.
Pujya Swami Chidanand Saraswatiji said, “On this very day three years ago, we saw the waters of River Ganga rise to heights unseen in the last 100 years. It was a time in which ‪#MotherNature was calling out to us and giving us an ultimatum. Today, we must remember that message and continue to work tirelessly and quickly to preserve and protect our rivers and water bodies from pollution as well as conduct massive tree plantation drives, making and restoring ‪#GreenCorridors along both sides of the river bed. The planting of trees along the river bed will be the true tribute to our brothers and sisters who tragically lost their lives.”
Added Sadhvi Bhagawati Saraswati, Secretary-General of the Global Interfaith WASH Alliance, “Let us also take a moment to pray and offer our respectful homage to all those who lost their lives in 2013 tragic floods of #Uttarakhand. On Ganga’s birthday in 2013, she gave us a warning: ‘Care for me, care for my ‪#mountains, my trees and my ‪#tributaries and I will bring you ‪#life and ‪#liberation. ‪#Deforest my ‪#mountainsides, pollute the ‪#air such that the warmth melts the ‪#glaciers, ‪#dam and divert me, and you will reap the consequences.’ Let us remember this message and pledge ourselves to protect and preserve all rivers for our future generations.”
Joining the prayer ceremony were faith leaders including Pujya MM Arjun Puriji, Juna Akhara, Founder-President of Ahimsa Vishwa Bharti, Acharya Lokesh Muniji, Head of Delhi Bangla Sahib, Paramjit Singh Chandok, Shri Sushil Goswamiji of Sarva Dharma Sansad, ‪#Yamuna Rakshak Dal’s Jai Krishna Prabhu and people from many countries and from all across ‪#India.