BENGALURU: Spiritual leader Jaggi Vasudev hailed the support for Rally for Rivers — the initiative to plant trees beside rivers across the country — while speaking here on Saturday. Vasudev, popularly known as Sadhguru, is on a journey to generate support for the initiative. He is driving from Kanyakumari to the Himalayas, covering 23 cities in 16 states in the process.
On Saturday, he was speaking at an event to support the rally, attended by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, Union Ministers Ananth Kumar and D V Sadananda Gowda, Development Minister K J George, Minister for Water Resources M B Patil, actor Puneeth Rajkumar and scion of Mysuru royal family Yaduveer Krishnadatta Chamaraja Wadiyar.
Sadhguru said, “About a century ago, Bengaluru had 1,000 lakes, and now only 81 exist. We shouldn’t forget that water and soil are the primary issues in this nation.” He acknowledged the skepticism and opposition expressed towards the project, but asked those opposing to come up with solutions. He said the initiative involved several complexities and would take about 25 years to make a noticable difference.
The Chief Minister commended the initiative and hoped for its successful completion. He said, “If we don’t conserve water, the future generations will face a crisis. Until today we have not learnt water management.” The Sadhguru will next drive to Chennai. His trip is scheduled to end on October 2 at New Delhi.