National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) organised the 44^th meeting of the Executive Committee yesterday under the chairmanship of Shri G. Asok Kumar, Director General, NMCG.  In the meeting, 13 projects pertaining to geo-mapping in Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh and NCT of Delhi, sewerage management in Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and West Bengal, river front development works in Uttarakhand, wetland conservation, Arth Ganga and refurbishment of gates of Belia Circular Canal in Kolkata were approved. The estimated cost of these projects is around Rs. 818 crores.

For scientific geo-mapping of River Ganga and its tributaries, 3 projects were approved. These include ‘Fluvial Geomorphology mapping of Hindon River Basin’ by NEER. Hindon River is a second-level tributary of the Ganga River. The mapping of point sources of pollution as well as fluvial geomorphological changes brought about by anthropogenic activity or natural factors will aid in tributary river rejuvenation and bring about a bottom-up approach for maintaining the health of the main river systems. The prime objectives of this project are delineation of fluvial geomorphological features along the Hindon river basin, identification of decadal changes in fluvial geomorphological, delineation of stream network and suitable recharge zones, delineation of point sources of pollutant input close to the confluence of the Hindon river analysis and GIS, architectural interventions on Sustainable River Embankment Strategies and identifying potential zones for ghat development. The estimated cost of this project is Rs. 16.4 lakhs. A similar proposal for Dehradun - ‘Geo-Ganga: Space-based mapping & Monitoring of Ganga River’ using UAV/Survey and remote sensing techniques costing Rs. 5.4 crore was also given the go ahead in the meeting. This project will be implemented by the Indian Institute of Remote Sensing, Dehradun. 

Another project for ‘Provision of Services for acquisition, processing & delivery of high resolution images, thematic layer of drain, sandmining, illegal dumping, encroachment inriverbed, land use/land cover map using airborne LiDAR & optical sensor’ was approved. This will be done in NCT Delhi and parts of Gautam Budh Nagar, Ghaziabad, Baghpat of Uttar Pradesh and Udham Singh Nagar, Uttarakhand costing about Rs. Rs.12.65 crore.

For sewerage management in the Ganga basin, 5 projects were approved. These include STP and I&D works in Supaul Bihar at an estimated cost of Rs. 57.09 crore involving development of 3 STPs (STP-1: 8.9 MLD; STP-2: 1.9 MLD; STP-3: 1.1 MLD), 6 drain tapping, 6 I&D structures for the drains etc. Another STP and I&D project for Bihar was sanctioned for Ramnagar town that includes 2 STPs of 4.5 MLD capacity each and interception & diversion works costing      Rs. 56.97 crore.

A big project for Mathura on River Yamuna was also sanctioned costing around Rs. 282 crore involving construction of a new 60 MLD STP, 4 I&D structures, I&D network laying of 1.97 km etc. One project in Uttarakhand including interception & diversion, STP works for Muni Ki Reti, Neelkanth Mahadev, Jonk Swargashram at Rishikesh was approved at an estimated cost of       Rs. 91 crores. 

Another big sewerage management project for construction of a new 65 MLD STP at Garden Reach in Kolkata, West Bengal was also approved by the EC at an estimated cost of Rs. 275.07 crore. Other works in this project include upgradation/repair of 8 SPS, civil and E&M work, construction/repair of approach road to the STP etc.

For river front development, two projects for Badrinath in Uttarakhand were approved that includes construction of Plaza Promenade and Parikrama including new ghats, public amenities, EV track, signages, landscape, pavilions, toilets, drinking water facility, shopsat a total cost of Rs. 27.57 crore.

A project on "Capacity Building Programme for Leveraging of Community Resources and Appropriate Local Resources Based on Technology to Adopt Arth Ganga Model" by HESCO, Dehradun was also approved at an estimated cost of Rs. 5.20 crores. The objectives of the proposal include establishing Arth Ganga Training Centre at HESCO Gram to be used as a common platform for various Ganga based economic activities for the rural community, creation of Ganga Resource Centres across the Ganga Basin which would cover around 500 families and related resource based economic activities like fruit farm, mushroom cultivation, vegetable cultivation, rural energy, water recharge, home stays, etc. to enhance entrepreneurship among the people on the banks of River Ganga and identification of voluntary organizations with strong credibility and experience. Arth Ganga Centre would act as an institute equipped with all necessary knowledge and technology, its responsibility will be to make the linkage between GRC and other research institutes. It will also conduct sector-wise meetings with stakeholdersespecially panchayat, local media persons, Voluntary Organisations etc. A total of 1500 families would be directly trained and indirectly 20000 community members will be exposed to its benefits.

Wetland Conservation has been on priority under Namami Gange Programme. 23 out of 64 Ramsar Wetlands sites are in the Ganga Basin. A project titled ‘Conserving and Sustainably Managing Udhwa Lake Bird Sanctuary’ in Sahibganj District, Jharkhand was approved at an estimated cost of Rs. 50 lakhs under Namami Gange Mission-II. The project is aimed at providing a replicable and scalable template for integrating conservation and management of Udhwa lake bird sanctuary and conserve, restore and develop this important wetland. It envisages Integrated Management Plan for Udhwa lake bird sanctuary based on stakeholder consultation & baseline hydrological assessments. The interventions seek to conserve Udhwa lake, enhanced aquatic and terrestrial biodiversity and productivity, conservation of important birding area and sustainable floodplain for the better flow of ecosystem services of Ganga Riverscape.

Another project for installation of 5 new sluice gates along the Bank (Eastern & Western) of Beliaghata Circular Canal, refurbishment of 28 existing sluice gates etc. was approved for around Rs. 4.25 crore. This project is essential to stop the leakage of penstock gates and stop the drains to discharge the wastewater in the river in Kolkata, West Bengal.

The Executive Committee meeting NMCG was attended by Shri S.P. Vashishth, ED (Admin.), NMCG, Shri D.P. Mathuria, ED (Technical), NMCG, Shri Himansu Badoni, ED (Projects), NMCG, Shri Bhaskar Dasgupta, ED (Finance), NMCG and Ms. Richa Misra, JS&FA, Department of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation, Ministry of Jal Shakti.

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