HCL organized Bal Ganga Mela in partnership with Government of India

Noida:HCL Foundation, in partnership with National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) and German development agency GIZ (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit) organized “Bal Ganga Mela” at its Noida campus on Sunday, November 4, 2018. More than 500 children from HCL Foundation-supported government schools in Noida, bridge centres, Power of One community champions and Scholars participated in the mela. The day is symbolic as it marks the declaration of the Ganga as the National River of India in 2008 and is dedicated to raising awareness about rejuvenating the holy river and teaching children to become environmentally aware and responsible citizens. The Bal Ganga Mela was inaugurated by Shri U. P. Singh, Secretary, Ministry of Water Resources, River Development & Ganga Rejuvenation in the presence Shri Rajiv Ranjan Mishra, Director General, NMCG, Shri Rozy Agarwal, Executive Director, Finance, NMCG, Ms. Nidhi Pundhir, Director, CSR, and Head, HCL Foundation, Ms. Martina Burkard, Programme Director, G12 (Support for Ganga Rejuvenation) and Mr. Anil Kumar Singh, Chief Development Officer, Gautam Budh Nagar. The Mela was organized with the objectives to create awareness among the school children on the importance of water in general and rivers in particular so that they understand the importance of unpolluted, clean water and water security, and also to foster respect for the natural environment and motivate the children to change their attitudes encouraging students to become ambassadors of change, who influence and motivate others towards river rejuvenation and water conservation.To inculcate the idea of conserving our natural resources in children, as they are the future of the country, the Bal Mela offered outdoor engaging and participatory activities for children, aimed to motivate the participants to become ‘stewards’ of the Ganga and water in general within their schools as well as in their families and communities. The hands-on and interactive activities had clear underlying messages that are relevant to their daily lives with reference to Ganga rejuvenation and water conservation. The participating children engaged in day-long activities that included Water Quality Testing, Waste Segregation, Interactive Games, Street Play, Rangoli, Painting, Quiz Competition and Movie Screening.HCL Foundation is committed towards conservation of environment and the indigenous flora and fauna. To scale up the momentum of this mission, HCL Foundation also signed an MoU with NMCG under HCL Foundation Program for Afforestation. HCL Foundation and NMCG have agreed to work on tributaries of Ganga, that are, Hindon and Yamuna to increase the forest cover in part of UP and Uttrakhand with the following objectives:
• Sensitization/awareness programs on Forest and Environment Conservation;
• Urban and peri urban afforestation under the urban forest model of HCL Foundation- “Foundation Upvan”;
• Mass afforestation on Government allotted land and creation of Urban Forests in partnership with the NMCG and District Administration;
• Ensure plantation success rate of 60 to 70% at the end of 10 years from the date of signing of the MoU between both the parties.Contributing towards the Namami Gange Collaboration, HCL Foundation also took part in a mass afforestation drive along the tributaries Hindon and Yamuna in and around Noida as Noida has been a major focus area for HCL Foundation. Going forward, the geographic area, Gautam Buddha Nagar and Noida in particular has been prioritized by HCL Foundation for its overall development with clear focus on environmental issues. This area has major tributaries to Ganga namely Hindon and Yamuna & any work towards eco system conservation will contribute towards rejuvenation of Ganga Basin. HCL also pledged to contribute as much as possible towards environmental conservation of this area, given that HCL was born in Noida & houses more than 28000 people working in HCL itself.