Swedish royal couple meets young green activist, witnesses 'Ganga puja'

Swedish king Carl XVI and queen Silvia here on Thursday met a five-member delegation of children led by 11-year-old green activist Ridhima Pandey. The royal couple is on a five-day official visit to the country which began in New Delhi on Monday.

Ridhima was among the 16 children, including teenage environment activist Greta Thunberg, who had filed a complaint to protest the lack of government action on the climate crisis at the United Nations Climate Action Summit in September. The royal couple also witnessed "Ganga puja" and visited the Ram Jhula, a suspension bridge.

Sharing details of her meeting with the royal couple, Ridhima said she told them about the ongoing Union government campaigns to save the environment and the lack of awareness among people about their significance. "I told the royal couple about campaigns like Swachh Bharat Mission and the one to stop the use of single-use plastic and how due to a lack of awareness, these campaigns had not produced the desired results," she told reporters after her interaction with the royal couple.

The Swedish king said he understood what the children wanted to say, Ridhima said when asked how the king reacted to what they said. The royal couple observed how the Ganga is worshipped at the Ganga Mandir ghat in the Swargashram area.

The "Ganga puja" was performed by two women from Nagpur--Shashi Tripathi and Daya Vyaghra. Daya translated the Sanskrit shlokas into English for the royal couple. Shashi Tripathi said all rituals associated with the puja -- Ganesh puja, Kalash puja and Shankh puja -- were performed before the royal couple.

Though they did not participate in the rituals, they watched these with interest. The couple also took a small walk on the Ram Jhula.

Earlier, the royal couple was received by state Higher Education Minister Dhan Singh Rawat at the Jolly Grant airport. Later in the day, the royal couple attended the inauguration of a sewage treatment plant in Haridwar.

Built at a cost of Rs 41.40 crore, the 14 MLD sewage plant was inaugurated jointly by Union Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat and Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat at Sarai in Haridwar district under the Namami Gange project. The royal couple inspected the treatment plant and went around an exhibition showcasing steps taken by the Centre to control pollution in the Ganga.

They halted for nearly 45 minutes at the Paniali guest house of the forest department in Kotdwar before leaving for the Corbett Tiger Reserve, where the royal couple will spend the night and go for an animal safari on Friday.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)