The Government of India releases funds to National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) for the implementation of the river Ganga rejuvenation programme. Thereafter, funds are released by NMCG for implementation of the said programme. The amount released by NMCG to State Governments/Executing Agencies during the last five financial years (i.e. FY  2017-18, 2018-19, 2019-20, 2020-21 & 2021-22) is Rs.10,157.31 crore.

Under the Namami Gange Programme, Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) is carrying out water quality assessment of the River Ganga at 97 locations in 5 main stem States through the respective State Pollution Control Boards (SPCBs). As per CPCB data for 2021, the observed water quality of river Ganga indicates that Dissolved Oxygen (DO), which is an indicator of river health has been found to be within acceptable limits of notified primary bathing water quality criteria and is satisfactory to support the ecosystem of the river for almost the entire stretch of the river Ganga. As a result of multi sectoral interventions, as per comparison of median data of water quality parameters viz., DO and Faecal Coliforms (FC) of year 2014 and 2021; DO (Median) has improved at 34 locations and FC at 25 locations, respectively.

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. In the first phase under Namami Gange Mission-I, the focus was mainly on cleaning the main stem of river Ganga and its first order tributaries. Accordingly, 374 projects are taken up along the main stem towns of river Ganga and 15 tributaries namely Yamuna, Kosi, Saryu, Ramganga, Kali (West), Kali (East), Gomti, Son, Barakar, Hindon, BurhiGandak, Banka, Damodar, Rispana-Bindal and Chambal. 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. Out of these 374 projects, 210 projects are completed and the remaining projects are at various stages of completion.

The following action is being taken to ensure the expedited implementation of projects and to ensure that completed projects are monitored:-

1. Engagement of Project Management Consultants and Project Engineers by NMCG and State Government respectively for regular monitoring of projects through regular interactions/ discussions/ site visits.
2. Continuous coordination/ meetings/ follow up with SPMGs/ Executing Agencies.
3. Resolving delay in road/railway crossing permissions by conducting high level inter-Ministerial meeting with Railways and NHAI.
4. Regular review meetings are chaired by DG-NMCG with State agencies. Meetings are also carried out by the Hon’ble Jal Shakti Minister as well as Secretary Ministry of Jal Shakti, not only with various officers of NMCG and  the State Governments but also with the respective Hon’ble Chief Ministers or Chief Secretary of States to remove bottlenecks and also for expediting the pace of projects being executed at various levels.

Despite Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, 2021 (which has resulted in loss of working days during March-June), the projects have now geared up and will be completed mostly within their scheduled completion time with minimal delay.

Considering the need and spread of the programme, Govt. of India has further approved Namami Gange Mission –II with a budgetary outlay of Rs 22,500 Cr. till 2026 for projects for existing liabilities and new projects/interventions.

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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AS

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