The Namami Gange programme is scheduled to be completed by 2020.

The status of the Namami Gange Programme as on 30th June 2016 is as follows:-

97 projects have been sanctioned under Namami Gange programme in 53 towns at an estimated project cost of Rs 8588.21 Crore. Out of these 12 projects have been sanctioned exclusively under new components of Namami Gange programme at a sanctioned cost of Rs 351.42 Crore. Apart from above, the other initiatives taken include:

§  The Government recently launched 231 entry level and medium term  projects under Namami Gange on 7^th July, 2016. These projects include Ghat Development, Crematoria, setting up of Sewage treatment plants, afforestation etc.

§  “River Surface and Ghat Cleaning” programme using trash skimmer has been taken up initially in 6 cities namely Mathura-Vrindavan, Kanpur, Allahabad, Varanasi, Patna and New Delhi under the Namami Gange programme.

§  5 central public sector units namely WAPCOS, EIL, NBCC, NPCC, EPIL have been recently engaged to carry out the work on condition Assessment & Feasibility Study and Entry level activities under Namami Gange Programme in their respective river stretches in Uttarakhand, UP, Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal. 59 towns have been surveyed so far and 27 pre-feasibility reports received. The other activities taken up under entry level activities include repair and modernization of Ghats, provision of public amenities, village level drain (VLD) treatment, repair and modernization of crematoria etc. Out of the 1242 ghats, 369 crematoria and 411 VLDs identified so far from the surveys, 191 Ghats and 64 Crematoria have been recommended by ESC till date.

§  Holding regular meeting of the National Ganga River Basin Authority (NGRBA), High Level Task Force (HLTF) and Empowered Steering Committee (ESC) to expedite the implementation of Namami Gange scheme.

§  The Government has invited Expression of Interest (EOI) from innovative technology providers for taking up demonstration projects on in-situ treatment of drains discharging into river Ganga.

The currently ongoing “Namami Gange Programme” has not received any grant / aid from foreign countries. It is fully funded by Government of India.  However, scheme for cleaning river Ganga, prior to Namami Gange, has availed financial assistance in the form of developmental loans granted by: a) World Bank (WB) amounting to 1 Billion USD and b) Japan International Corporation Agency (JICA), amounting to Rs. 496.90 Crore.  Also, several countries have offered technical assistance for Namami Gange Programme. At present, Germany, has committed 3 Million Euro for information, knowledge exchange, capacity building and data management.

The Government has taken up River Surface Cleaning using trash skimmer initially in 6 cities namely Mathura-Vrindavan, Kanpur, Allahabad, Varanasi, Patna and New Delhi under the Namami Gange programme. Tendering process for River surface cleaning activities at other Priority towns has also completed.

Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) has inspected the 752 GPIs (as on 30th June, 2016) out of the identified 764 Grossly Polluting Industries (GPIs) operating on the bank of River Ganga and issued directions under Section 5 of E (P) Act, 1986 to 573 units found non-compliant during inspection. Out of these 573 units, 65 units were issued closure directions. Five key industrial sectors namely, distillery, sugar, pulp & paper, tannery and textile contributing 90% of inorganic load into the river system have been issued directions to achieve water conservation and zero liquid discharge by March, 2017.

Directions have been issued to local/urban bodies for establishing STPs of adequate capacity and provide underground sewerage system to cover the entire local/urban areas and bridging the generation/treatment gap. Directions have also been issued to 118 towns in Ganga basin for treatment and utilization of sewage for restoration of water quality of rivers.

Besides the above, CPCB has formulated an action plan for implementation of zero liquid discharge, water conservation and management practices in water polluting industries to control water pollution of river Ganga and its tributaries. The Action plan includes;

(i) Preparation of Guidelines on techno-economic feasibility of implementation of Zero Liquid Discharge (ZLD), water conservation and management practices in water pollution industries, and action plan to achieve ZLD in Tannery, Distillery and Textiles (medium, large and cluster based textile units)

(ii) Directions issued to all industries discharging into River Ganga or its tributaries and for installation of online effluent monitoring systems (OEMS).

(iii) Revised standards notified for Sugar sector vide notification dated 14.01.2016 including the treated effluent discharge limit of 200 lit/tonne of cane crushed to reduce the pollution load.

CPCB is also establishing a network of 113 real time water quality monitoring facilities on river Ganga in the 5 Ganga states (Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand & West Bengal) under World Bank funded project “Water Quality monitoring System for River Ganga (WQM)”.

This information was given by Union Minister for Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation Sushri Uma Bharti in a written reply in Lok Sabha today.

Samir/jk