The Government of India has been supplementing efforts of the States/UTs by providing financial and technical assistance for the abatement of pollution in rivers/tributaries in the Ganga basin through the Central Sector Scheme of Namami Gange Programme (NGP), and the Centrally Sponsored Scheme of National River Conservation Plan (NRCP) for other rivers.

The Government of India (GoI) launched the Namami Gange Programme (NGP) in 2014-15 for the rejuvenation of river Ganga and its tributaries for five years, up to March 2021 and has been further extended to March 2026. Under the Namami Gange Programme, a diverse and holistic set of interventions for cleaning and rejuvenation of river Ganga have been taken up, that includes wastewater treatment, riverfront management, ensuring e- flow, rural sanitation, afforestation, biodiversity conservation, public participation. As of February, 2026, a total of 524 projects have been sanctioned at a cost of ₹ 43,030 crores, out of which 355 projects have been completed.

NRCP is taking up various pollution abatement works relating to interception & diversion of raw sewage, construction of sewerage systems, setting up of sewage treatment plants, low-cost sanitation, river front/bathing ghat development, etc for the rivers of the country except rivers part of Ganga Basin. So far, NRCP has covered 58 rivers in 100 towns spread over 17 States in the country at a total sanctioned cost of Rs. 8,970.51 crores, and sewage treatment capacity of 3,019 million litres per day (MLD) has been created.

The various measures under the National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) are as follows:

1. A total of 218 sewerage infrastructure projects costing₹ 35,794 crores have been taken up for the remediation of polluted river areas with a treatment capacity of 6,610 Million Liters per Day (MLD). 138 STP projects with a capacity of 4,050 MLD have been completed and made operational.
2. At NMCG, an on-line dashboard “PRAYAG” has been operationalized for continuous monitoring of river water quality; the performance of Sewage Treatment Plants (STPs) etc. on the Ganga and Yamuna River.
3. NMCG successfully implemented the minimum e-flow norms notified in October 2018, ensuring continuous environmental flow in the river Ganga. Regular compliance is being effectively monitored by the Central Water Commission (CWC).
4. Biodiversity Conservation: Seven Biodiversity Parks in seven districts (Mirzapur, Bulandshahar, Hapur, Budaun, Ayodhya, Bijnore and Pratapgarh) of Uttar Pradesh and 5 priority wetlands in Uttar Pradesh (3), Bihar (1) and Jharkhand (1) have been sanctioned.
5. NMCG, through the State Forest Department, has implemented a forestry intervention project along the main stem of river Ganga. 33,024 hectares area have been afforested with an expenditure of about ₹ 414 crores.
6. A total of 203 lakhs of Indian Major Carp (IMC) fingerlings have been ranched in the Ganga to conserve fish biodiversity and prey base for river Dolphins, and ensure the livelihood of fishers in the Ganga basin under the special project implemented by Central Inland Fisheries Research Institute (CIFRI).
7. India’s first Dolphin Rescue Ambulance was developed and inaugurated on 13th January, 2026 by the Hon’ble Minister at Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, enabling safe rescue and translocation; 8 Gangetic dolphins were rescued and released.
8. A citizen-led Soons-Saathi network (100 volunteers across 250 km), 160 trained personnel, 2,000 sensitised community members, and 15 Dolphin Clubs strengthened early reporting and conservation outreach.
9. Gharial Conservation: Gharial assessments across 22 rivers recorded 3,037 individuals, with habitat models indicating only 5.6% highly suitable habitat, underscoring the need for flow regulation and habitat protection.
10. Threatened turtle species including 15 (10 radio tagged) captives hatched Chitra indica, 60 Hardellathurjii (10 radio tagged) and 20 Batagurkachuga (all radio tagged) re-wilded in Yamuna, Sarju and Ganga rivers, respectively with robust monitoring protocol. Dispersal and survival maps ready.
11. Total 387 vulnerable nest (8257 eggs) of endangered Batagur turtle species were protected in Chambal through two riverside hatcheries. This ensured safe return of 7979 hatchlings back into the river, marking an overall hatching success of 96.7%.
12. Technology-driven conservation was advanced through the institutionalization of SMART-based riverine patrolling across 210 km of the Chambal River in Uttar Pradesh.
13. “Ganga Knowledge Portal” is a pioneering initiative developed in-house by the National Mission for Clean Ganga, serving as a centralized repository for comprehensive resources on water resource management. This platform is engineered to facilitate access for students, research scholars, stakeholders, and the general public to a vast array of materials (1346 documents), including journals, publications, books, technical articles, research reports; data sets (District River Maps, STP performance and river atlas) and coffee table books. By concentrating on the intricacies of water resource challenges, Ganga Knowledge portal aims to enhance awareness and foster informed decision-making in this critical sector;
14. A total no. of 139 District Ganga Committees (DGCs) have been constituted which conducts 4M (Monthly, Mandated, Minuted, and Monitored) meetings regularly. As of January 2026, more than 5,118 meetings have been conducted;
15. Ganga Task Force (GTF) was raised in the state of Uttar Pradesh to assist NMCG in carrying out its mandated tasks, such as (a) Plantation of trees to check soil erosion; (b) Management of Public Awareness/Participation campaigns; (c) Patrolling of Sensitive Rivers Areas for Biodiversity protection; (d) Patrolling of Ghats, etc.;
16. Comprehensive public awareness campaigns have been undertaken to instill a sense of responsibility and engagement among the public in efforts to clean and conserve the Ganga River. These include - Ganga Utsav, Nadi Utsav, regular cleanathons and plantation drives, Ghat Par Yoga, Ganga Aartis, etc. The efforts are also supported by dedicated cadres of Ganga saviours, such as Ganga Praharis, Ganga Vichar Manch, etc.

Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), carries out manual water quality monitoring of the river Ganga at 112 locations across five Ganga main-stem States- Uttarakhand-19; Uttar Pradesh-41; Bihar-33; Jharkhand-04; and West Bengal-15.

As per CPCB report on Polluted River Stretch (PRS) 2025 following information about Ganga main stem pollution is available:

Ganga Main Stem – State-wise Comparison (2018 vs 2025)

State	2018 Polluted Stretch	Priority (2018)	2025 Polluted Stretch	Priority (2025)	Trend/Observation
Uttarakhand	Haridwar → Sultanpur	IV	No PRS	—	Improved and PRS stretch removed
Uttar Pradesh	Kannauj → Varanasi	IV	Bijnor → Tarighat	IV / V	Partially improved
Bihar	Buxar to Bhagalpur	V	Bhagalpur D/S→ Khalgaon D/S	V	Marginal pollution remains
Jharkhand	No PRS	—	No PRS	—	—
West Bengal	Triveni → Diamond Harbour	III	Baharampore → Diamond Harbour	V	improved

 

Based on the water quality data (median values) of the river Ganga for the year 2025 (January to August), the following observations are made.

1. pH & Dissolved Oxygen (DO) are the most critical parameters of river health. The pH & DO of River Ganga meet the required norms for bathing criteria at all the locations of River Ganga.
2. Water quality of river Ganga is conforming with the bathing criteria w.r.t. Bio- chemical Oxygen Demand (BOD) in the entire stretch of river Ganga in Uttarakhand, Jharkhand, Bihar & West Bengal, except the following locations/stretches:

• Farrukhabad to Purana Rajapur, Kanpur.
• Dalmau, Raebareli.
• D/s Mirzapur to Tarighat, Ghazipur (except two locations namely U/s Varanasi, After confluence Gomti & U/s Ghazipur) in Uttar Pradesh.

As per the biomonitoring conducted during 2024-25 at 50 locations along river Ganga and its tributaries and 26 locations along River Yamuna and its tributaries, the biological water quality (BWQ) predominantly ranged from ‘Good’ to ‘Moderate’. The presence of diverse benthic macro-invertebrate species indicates the ecological potential of the rivers to sustain aquatic life.

Science-based species restoration programme, rescue, and rehabilitation programme for aquatic species like Dolphins, Otters, Hilsa, Turtles, and Ghariyal in collaboration with Wild Life Institute of India (WII), Dehradun and State Forest Department, have shown marked improvements in biodiversity with increased sightings of Dolphins, Otters, Hilsa, Turtles, and other riverine species.

Under NGP, for industrial pollution abatement, 3 nos. of Common Effluent Treatment Plants (CETPs) have been sanctioned, i.e., Jajmau CETP (20 MLD), Banther CETP (4.5 MLD), and Mathura CETP (6.25 MLD). Two projects, Mathura CETP (6.25 MLD) and Jajmau CETP (20 MLD), have been completed. Further, the Annual inspection of Grossly Polluting Industries (GPIs) started in 2017. These efforts have resulted in a reduction in BOD load from 26 tons per day (TPD) in 2017 to 10.75 TPD in 2024, and about 23.9 % reduction in effluent discharge from 349 MLD in 2017 to 265.56 MLD in 2024.

The information was provided by THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR JAL SHAKTI SHRI RAJ BHUSHAN CHOUDHARY in a written reply to a question in Lok Sabha today.

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ND

(Lok Sabha USQ 6332)

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