In line with the demands of actvist professor G D Agarwal aka Swami Gyan Swaroop Sananda, prime minister Manmohan Singh has called a meeting of the members of the National Ganga River Basin Authority (NGRBA) on April 17. The government has also said that all ongoing work on dams on the river will be stopped with immediate effect until a decision is taken at the meeting of the NGRBA with the prime minister.

A letter from the prime minister informing about these key decisions has been delivered to Agarwal at 1.30 pm on Friday by union coal minister Sriprakash Jaiswal and parliamentary affairs minister V Narayanswamy at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) where the activist has been hospitalised after his condition deteriorated after 68 days of continued fast.

Sources close to Agarwal said that he ended his fast after the news was communicated to him verbally by the government.

Agarwal and seven others will attend the meeting between the NGRBA and the government where the charter of demands raised by the activist will be adopted as the agenda.

Anti-corruption activist Anna Hazare, on Thursday, wrote a letter to the PM asking him to heed his duty towards the nation and its people. In his letter, Hazare has also asked the PM to accept all the demands of professor Agarwal and seriously work upon restoring the sanctity of river Ganga.

Agarwal's student Govind Acharya Sharma said that the members of the campaign are hopeful of reaching a solution after the meeting. "After receiving the letter, we will come to know what all they are promising. Verbally they have intimated that the work on dams is being stopped. The fast will resume with many more people taking up the battle if the government goes back from its words. Nobody is afraid of dying for his mother," he said.