Lucknow: The Yogi Adityanath government will release about 500 turtles, once again, into the Ganga River in a renewed attempt to clean the river.
The turtles are likely to be released into the river next week when the temperatures begin to rise. A senior forest official said that carnivorous species of turtles prey on half burnt bodies and carcasses and help in organic cleaning of the river.
The state government has been receiving flak from devotees who are unable to take a holy dip in the river due to the highly polluted waters.
In Allahabad, a group of saints refused to take the holy dip on the first day of the ongoing Magh Mela because the water had turned black.
The official said, “Since the 1980s, we have been releasing carnivorous turtles into the Ganga as a cleanup operation. Uttar Pradesh has the largest catchment area of turtles and the specimens are poached in huge numbers.”
