For centuries, the Ganga has been woven into India’s civilisation, culture and everyday life.

It has nurtured communities, supported livelihoods and inspired traditions across generations. Over time, however, growing cities, pollution and unplanned urbanisation placed increasing pressure on the river.

This highlighted the need to strengthen its ecological health and people’s relationship with it. Reviving the Ganga, therefore, calls for more than cleaning its water. This broader understanding shapes the Namami Gange Programme (NGP), launched in 2014.

The programme is an Integrated Conservation Mission for the Ganga and its tributaries. It brings together pollution abatement, conservation and river rejuvenation. NGP’s work extends across sewage treatment, riverfront development, afforestation, etc.

Scientific monitoring and public awareness further strengthen this integrated effort. Yet, lasting transformation depends on a partner that no programme can do without. That partner is the community itself.

This belief gave rise to Jan Ganga, the public participation pillar of Namami Gange. Inspired by the vision of Jan Bhagidari, it places people at the centre of conservation. This is where Namami Gange becomes a story of people. A story that moves from awareness to participation, and ultimately towards ownership.

A river can bring people together in ways that extend beyond environmental action. Its banks become spaces where communities meet, participate and celebrate their shared connection.

Jan Ganga creates such opportunities through cleanliness drives, plantation campaigns and educational initiatives. These activities turn conservation into a collective experience rather than an isolated responsibility.

One of the clearest expressions of this participation under NGP is river cleanliness. The Ganga Swachhta Pakhwada has become an important platform for spreading this message.

Observed annually from 16th to 31st March, it is a fortnight-long event that reaches thousands of people across the five main-stem Ganga basin States.

These include Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal. It also covers the National Capital Territory of Delhi and towns along Ganga’s tributaries.

Students, volunteers, community groups and other stakeholders participate in coordinated efforts to strengthen public engagement with river conservation.

This momentum is further sustained through regular weekly cleanliness drives along the Yamuna in Delhi. These drives contribute directly to cleaner river stretches and surrounding areas.

Together, such efforts are helping make river conservation a regular civic practice rather than an activity limited to designated occasions.