varanasi governor bl joshi highlighting the importance of ganga expressed his concern on increasing pollution of the holy river ganga needs protection and conservation and if immediate and proper measures are not taken the existence of ganga may get threatened said governor while speaking at the closing ceremony of the 18th ganga mahotsav november 24 to november 27 held at rajendra prasad ghat on tuesday evening apart from the need of saving the river at government level it is necessary that local people should also understand their responsibilities towards the river he further added meanwhile divisional commissioner ck tiwari highlighted various cultural and sporting events held during the fourday festivity the cultural extravaganza concluded on a high note after the enthralling performances of various artists on tuesday padma bhushan pandit chhannulal mishra who welcomed the audience and guests with his mesmerizing voice enthralled the audience with a number of songs dedicated to ganga interestingly mahotsav witnessed a number of classical and semiclassical artists of national fame including pandit vishwamohan bhatt bhajan sapori ratan mohan sharma group of students from faculty of performing arts banaras hindu university bhu and flock of local folk artists at rajendra prasad ghat from november 24 to november 27 meanwhile several traditional sporting events including ganga marathon from sant ravidas ghat to dashaswamedh ghat kushti asi ghat boat race gada jodi malkham were also organised promoting the folk sports during the occasion