On January 13 this year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the luxurious tent city on the floodplains of the Ganga in his constituency Varanasi, and flagged off the Ganga river cruise. Marvelling at the temporary structures with five-star facilities, Modi said: “This newly built, spectacular tent city is another reason for the visit of domestic and international tourists and devotees to Varanasi.”
But ten months on, the National Mission for Clean Ganga or NMCG – the nodal agency for restoration, rejuvenation and management of the Ganga and its tributaries under the Union ministry of Jal Shakti – has now told the National Green Tribunal that the project lacked a clearance as the Varanasi Development Authority did not take its approval.
