Ministry of Environment & Forests have informed that in the year 2009 National Ganga River Basin Authority (NGRBA) was set up to control pollution in river Ganga. The key activities include laying of sewerage system, sewage treatment plants, solid waste management, common effluent treatment plant for controlling industrial pollution, river front management (including development of ghats), development of crematoria etc.
So far, 67 schemes in 48 towns in five Ganga States and 6 institutional development projects including Automatic Water Quality Monitoring and Ganga Knowledge Centre have been sanctioned at a total cost of Rs. 4683.61 crore under the programme. Till date, Rs. 1229.87 crore has been released from centre and states, of which Central Government’s share is Rs. 912.52 crore and State Governments’ share is Rs. 317.35 crore. An expenditure of Rs. 838.76 crore has been reported till March, 2014 for implementation of the project. In the Financial Year 2014-15, a provision of Rs. 355.0 crore is envisaged for NGRBA.
Government is committed for rejuvenation of River Ganga. Consultation within different stakeholders viz., Ministries such as Ministry of Environment & Forests; Water Resources, Ganga Rejuvenation and River Development; Urban Development; Tourism; Shipping; Drinking Water Supply and Sanitation; Rural Development, etc., as well as academics, technical experts and NGOs associated with cleaning of Ganga, is in progress. Crystallisation of action plan, including framing of its salient features, time line and likely expenditure would be known only after the finalisation of the action plan for cleaning of river Ganga.
A comprehensive River Basin Management Plan for Ganga is being prepared by a consortium of seven IITs (Kanpur, Delhi, Madras, Bombay, Kharagpur, Guwahati and Roorkee) and a Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) has been signed on 6.7.2010 by Ministry of Environment & Forests & the IITs. The objective of the plan is to suggest comprehensive measures for restoration of the wholesomeness of the Ganga system and improvement of its ecological health, with due regard to the issue of competing water uses in the river basin. The Plan would take into consideration the requirements of water and energy in the Ganga Basin, while ensuring that the fundamental aspects of the river system are protected. The IIT consortium is proposing to submit its report by the end of August, 2014.
In the 12th Five Year Plan, a provision of Rs. 2200 crore has been kept for cleaning of river Ganga being implemented by National Ganga River Basin Authority.
This was stated by Union Minister of State for Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation Shri Santosh Kumar Gangwar in a written reply in Rajya Sabha today.
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