Cleaning of river is a continuous process and Government of India is supplementing the efforts of the State Government in addressing the challenges of pollution in river Ganga and its tributaries by providing financial and technical assistance under Namami Gange Programme. Under this Programme, a diverse set of interventions for cleaning and rejuvenation of river Ganga have been taken up including waste water treatment, solid waste management, river front management (ghats and crematoria), maintaining continuous flow, rural sanitation, afforestation, biodiversity conservation and Public Participation etc. Namami Gange is a scientific programme based on Ganga River Basin Management Plan (GRBMP) which was prepared by a consortium of 7 IITs led by IIT-Kanpur.

Under Namami Gange Programme, so far, a total of 357 projects have been sanctioned at an estimated cost of Rs.30,780 crore and 178 projects have been completed and made operational. Out of these 357 projects, 157 sewerage infrastructure projects have been taken up with a sanctioned cost of Rs.24,249 crore for creation and rehabilitation of 4952 MLD of Sewage Treatment Plant (STP) capacity and laying of 5212 km of sewerage network, out of this 74 projects have been completed resulting in creation and rehabilitation of 1092 MLD of STP capacity and laying of 3752 km sewerage network.

On the Ganga main stem towns (97 towns) , projects have been taken up to create 3341 MLD sewerage treatment capacity against generation of 2953 MLD (in 2016). The STP capacity in the main stem have increased from 1305 MLD (2014) to 2372 MLD (Nov 21). 42 projects have been taken up in towns located along river Yamuna, Hindon, Kali (East and West), Ramganga, Saryu, Gomti, Chambal, Rispana-Bindal, Dhela, Kharkai, Son, Kosi, Damodar, Banka and Barakar.

Development of Ghats & Crematoria works in select cities have been taken up. 62 projects (including one river front development project in Patna) were sanctioned for construction of 210 ghats and 57 crematoria. Out of these, 177 ghats and 46 crematoria have been completed.

The multiple projects and interventions taken up under “Namami Gange” programme have led to marked improvement in water quality across various erstwhile polluted stretches of river Ganga. As per Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) report of 2018, there were four pollution stretches on main stem of river Ganga (one stretch in Priority III, two stretch in priority IV and one stretch under priority V, where priority I being most polluted). Whereas, as per the CPCB data of 2021, no stretch falls under in higher pollution level (Priority I to IV) and only 2 stretches falls under Priority V (least polluted).

The details of the expenditure since 2014 under the “Namami Gange Programme” on various projects and interventions are tabulated below:

Financial Year	Expenditure (Rs. in Crore)
2014-15	170.99
2015-16	602.60
2016-17	1,062.81
2017-18	1,625.01
2018-19	2,626.54
2019-20	2,673.09
2020-21	1,339.97
2021-22 (Till date)	606.01
Total	10,707.03

This Information was given by the Minister of State for Jal Shakti, Shri Bishweswar Tudu in a written  reply in Rajya Sabha today.

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BY/AS

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