Biswajeet Banerjee | The News Minute | July 12, 2014 | 10.12 pm IST

Baba Nagnath Yogeshwar who was on fast for over six years demanding clean and uninterrupted flow of water in the River Ganga died in Varanasi in a state-run hospital.

The Baba, who claimed to be 'Peethadheeshwar' (head) of Kashi Mahashamsan Peeth at Manikarnika Ghat, died on Friday morning, district magistrate Varanasi Pranjal Yadav said.

Baba Yogeshwar had been on hunger strike since July 19, 2008 demanding Ganga should be made pollution free. Governor of Madhya Pradesh Ramnaresh Yadav, chief of Vishwa Hindu Parishad Ashok Singhal, Union minister for Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation Uma Bharti, Yoga Guru Baba Ramdev and prominent social activist Anna Hazare had supported the movement launched by Baba Nagnath , said Vikas Chandra Tiwari, a close relative of Yogeshwar.

“Baba has sacrificed his life for the sake of Ganga. He had declared that he would continue his fast until Ganga is made pollution free,” Tiwari said.

The Baba was admitted to Shiv Prasad Gupta Government Hospital after he complained of breathlessness but when his condition deteriorated he was referred to Sir Sunderlal Hospital in BHU and was admitted in intensive care unit where he breathed last on Friday.

Yogeshwar was demanding that the hurdles interrupting free flow of the river water should be removed and the sacred river be saved from pollution. He also protested against the construction of dams on the river for hydro-projects in Uttarakhand and demanded that the Tehri Dam be abandoned.

Earlier, another Sant Swamy Nigmanand, had died in 2011 after 115 days of fasting as part of his protest against illegal mining on the bank of the Ganga river in Haridwar in Uttarakhand.