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.
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.
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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 before leaving for Haridwar, where they were to attend the inauguration of a sewage treatment plant.
Earlier, the royal couple was received by state Higher Education Minister Dhan Singh Rawat at the Jollygrant airport.
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