Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami on Tuesday inaugurated a sewage treatment plant worth Rs 35.38 crore here and said it was a major step towards cleanliness. ? ? ?

"All our rivers and canals, big or small, merge with the Ganga at one point or the other. So, to keep the Ganga pollution-free and its flow uninterrupted, we need to keep ?all our rivers and canals clean. The sewage treatment plant is a step towards that," he said.?

The quality of water of the Ganga has become "A-Grade" up to Rishikesh and the goal now is to make it "A-Grade up to Haridwar, the chief minister said. ?He also announced that an allocation will be made in the state budget this year for establishing a zoo of international standard in Haldwani.

Haldwani Mayor Jogendra Pal Singh Rautela said the plant was a major step towards cleanliness and a new beginning for the town. ?

During Dhami's visit, Youth Congress members led by their state vice president Hemant Sahu demanded a CBI probe into the Ankita Bhandari murder case and paper leak cases related to recruitment examinations in the state, and flew black balloons in the air as a sign of protest.?