ICAR-CIFRI Marks Makar Sankranti with Ganga Aarti, Highlighting River Conservation and Sustainable Practices

The much coveted transition of Sun into Capricorn (Makar Rashi) – a significant celestial event resonating the onset of longer days and the end of winter, aligning with India’s harvest season, is being celebrated globally poised at a time when farmers rejoice in the abundance of their hard work and offer gratitude to the Sun God for a bountiful harvest.

The fervorous auspicious occasion was revered by ICAR – Central Inland Fisheries Research Institute (ICAR-CIFRI) in the form of performing “Ganga Aarti” at ‘Dui Poisa Ghat’, Barrackpore, West Bengal, with the soulful objective of worshipping the Ganga River and seek blessings for the upcoming year. The event aimed to promote the importance of river conservation and highlight the institute’s commitment to preserving the ecological health of the Ganga, with the honourable Director Doctor Basanta Kumar Das reiterating the significance of rivers in sustaining livelihoods, particularly in fisheries and agriculture, thus emphasising the importance of sustainable practices in fisheries and the preservation of aquatic ecosystems.

With due diligence to the “Makar Sankranti Punya Kaal” – the reverence commenced at 17.00 hours, with around 35 local fishermen gracing this event as special invitees.

Alike Makar Sankranti, this occasion was considered to be a congregation of Religion & Science by the netizens who had poured in hundreds to be a part of the discussions highlighting the institute’s ongoing initiatives and contributions to the development of inland fisheries in India, and blissfully been aware about the challenges posed by pollution, climate change, and overfishing.