305 Projects Worth ₹ 28,613 Crore Sanctioned to Clean Ganga River, 109 Completed

New Delhi: The Minister of State for Jal Shakti (water resources) Rattan Lal Kataria said yesterday the cleaning of rivers is a continuous process and that the Government of India is supplementing the efforts of State Governments in addressing the challenges of pollution of the river Ganga by providing financial and technical assistance.

Under the Namami Gange Program, a diverse set of interventions like pollution abatement activities, including sewage and industrial effluent treatment, solid waste management, river front management, aviral dhara, rural Sanitation, afforestation, biodiversity conservation, public participation, and other initiatives have been taken up for the cleaning and rejuvenation of the Ganga river.

So far, a total of 305 projects have been sanctioned at an estimated cost of Rs. 28,613.75 crore, out of which 109 projects have been completed and made operational. The remaining projects are at various stages of implementation.

97 cities and town have been identified along the Ganga which are estimated to discharge 2,953 million litres per day (MLPD) (Year 2016) into the river.

For Ganga stem cities and town, projects have been taken up to create a 3,308 MLPD sewage treatment capacity against the generation of 2,953 MLPD (Year 2016).

Sewage treatment capacity in the Ganga main stem towns have now increased from 1,305 MLPD (Year 2014) to 1,954 MLPD, excluding 410 MLPD sewage treatment through the East Kolkata Wetland.

The cleaning of rivers is a continuous process. Close monitoring and efforts are being made to complete all sanctioned projects by March 2022, creating the required sewage treatment capacity.

As per a Detailed Progress Report prepared by the Forest Research Institute (FRI), Dehradun, an area of 134,106 hectares is to be brought under plantation in the 5 Ganga States of Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal by December 2020.

The Report prescribed 43 models under 4 major heads, viz. Natural landscape, Agricultural landscape, Urban landscape and Conservation intervention.

Since the launch of the Namami Gange Program, an area of 30,761 hectares has been or is being planted during the period 2016-20.

This information was given in a written reply by the Minister of State for Jal Shakti (water resources) and Social Justice & Empowerment, Rattan Lal Kataria, in Lok Sabha on 28 November.

Indus Dictum reported earlier in November that, under National AYUSH Mission, the Ministry of AYUSH is supporting the cultivation of medicinal plants along the Ganga river banks in the states of Bihar, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal.

---

Source: Indus Dictum

Image Courtesy: Rasyanika

---