Nigamananda (left) with another sadhu at his ashram in Haridwar.
On February 19, 'Clean Ganga' crusader Swami Nigamananda sat on a fast-unto-death in Haridwar to protest against illegal mining and quarrying on the river bed. The 34-year-old ascetic died on June 13, ironically, on the same day the Government joined hands with the World Bank for a comprehensive Rs 7,000 crore project to clean the river. The swami died at the same hospital, the Himalayan Institute in Dehradun, where Baba Ramdev was being treated for complications induced by his much publicised nine-day fast.
