West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be visiting the state for the National Ganga Council meeting, to be held in Kolkata on December 30, and she, too, will be attending it. Banerjee stated that she has received an invitation to the programme from the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways.
"The prime minister is coming (to Bengal) on December 30. I was informed about it by the Ports, Shipping, and Waterways ministry. They (the ministry) have invited me to the programme. The minister rang me up. I can confirm that I will also join the meeting," Banerjee said at the state secretariat.
She sought to know from an official of the shipping ministry, who was present at the secretariat if a venue has been selected for the programme.
A senior official of the Indian Navy informed her that the meeting is likely to be held at INS Netaji Subhas, which, besides being the 'base support ship' for all outlying naval units, assists in the progressive build-up for administration and logistics infrastructure.
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The council, formed under the Environment (Protection) Act, is tasked with the responsibility of preventing pollution and rejuvenating the Ganga river. It has several ministers along with CMs of West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Bihar and Jharkhand as members, with the prime minister as the president.
A source in the Chief Minister's Office (CMO) said the state was not sure if chief ministers from other states would be attending the meeting. The last meeting of the council was held in Kanpur in December 2019.
(This report has been published as part of the auto-generated syndicate wire feed. Apart from the headline, no editing has been done in the copy by ABP Live.)