Ganga Rejuvenation

Major activities under National Mission for Clean Ganga:

Under Namami Gange programme, a total of 187 projects worth Rs. 16565.34 crore have been sanctioned for various activities such as sewage infrastructure, ghats and crematoria development, river front development, river surface cleaning, institutional development, biodiversity conservation, afforestation, rural sanitation, and public participation.

93 projects out of 187 were sanctioned for creation of 2205.08 MLD new sewage treatment plants (STPs), rehabilitation of 564.3 MLD of existing STPs and laying/rehabilitation of 4762.4 km sewer network for abatement of pollution in river Ganga and Yamuna.

Within a year of reconstitution of NMCG as an Authority (October 07, 2016 to October 07, 2017), 44 projects worth Rs 7,547.87 crore were approved by the Executive Committee. These projects pertain to creation of adequate sewage treatment capacities in Ganga basin States – Uttarakhand (17) Uttar Pradesh (10), Bihar (11) Jharkhand (1) West Bengal (3) and Delhi (2). Total STP capacity of 1402.26 MLD will be created with the approval of these projects and sewer network length of 1429.24 km will be laid down.

In a paradigm shift in sewage sector in the past one year, works on two STP projects (50 MLD in Varanasi and 82 MLD in Haridwar) have been started under Hybrid Annuity PPP mode (HAM). Other projects sanctioned under HAM are Naini, Jhusi, Phaphamau, Unnao, Shuklaganj and Farrukhabad in Uttar Pradesh, Digha, Kankarbagh and Bhagalpur in Bihar, Howrah, Bally and Tolly’s Nallah in Kolkata.

36 Real Time Water Quality Monitoring Station (RTWQMS) are operational under Namami Gange programme.

For abatement of industrial pollution, survey of all 1109 Grossly Polluting Industries (GPIs) was conducted. Out of 1109 GPIs, 333 were closed and closure notices were given to non-complying GPIs.

For River Front Development, works at 111 ghats and 46 crematoria are in progress and expected to be completed by 2018. For river surface cleaning, 11 trash skimmers have been deployed at Haridwar, Garh Mukhteshwar, Kanpur, Varanasi, Allahabad, Patna, Sahibganj, Nabadwip, Kolkata, Delhi and Mathura-Vrindavan.

On rural sanitation front, all 4464 villages on the bank of river Ganga have been made Open Defecation Free (ODF) and 12, 74, 421 Individual Household Toilets have been constructed.Five State Ganga Committees and 34 District Ganga Committees constituted for effective monitoring of projects and activities.

Six public outreach programmes were organised in five main stem Ganga basin States. They are Ganga Swachhta Pakhwada, Ganga Sankalp Divas, Ganga Nirikshan Yatra, Ganga Dusshera, Ganga Vriksharopan Saptah, and Swachhta Hi Seva Pakhwada.

The participation of corporates in Namami Gange programme grew stronger with successful completion of two road shows – London and Mumbai. Commitments of participation in NMCG activities have been made by several corporates.

Projects have also been taken up for bio-diversity conservation, conservation of fish and fisheries, Dolphin conservation, afforestation activities.

Countries like Australia, United Kingdom, Germany, Finland and Israel have shown keen interest in collaborating with the Indian government for river Ganga cleaning.

NMCG has signed an MoU with OISCA International, a leading NGO of Japan to collaborate in specific activities for pollution abatement and river rejuvenation.

Water Quality Monitoring: Based on water quality monitoring being carried out at 124 locations through manual as well as sensors based real time system, it has been observed that water quality trend on tributaries of Ramganga river viz., Bahela, Dahela, Kosi and Ramganga itself before its confluence with Ganga has shown improvements during the last two years.

Water Resources & River Development:-

Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (PMKSY) has been formulated amalgamating ongoing schemes viz. Accelerated Irrigation Benefit Programme (AIBP) of the Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation (MoWR,RD&GR), Integrated Watershed Management Programme (IWMP) of Department of Land Resources (DoLR) and the On Farm Water Management (OFWM) of Department of Agriculture and Cooperation (DAC). Under PMKSY, Ninety Nine (99) ongoing Accelerated Irrigation Benefits Programme (AIBP) Major/Medium projects along with their Command Area Development & Water Management (CADWM) works having potential of 76.03 lakh ha. and estimated cost of Rs. 77595 cr. have been identified in consultation with States, for completion in phases up to December, 2019. Funding mechanism through NABARD has been made by the Government for both central and state share for timely completion of 99 prioritized projects.

Detailed Project Reports (DPRs) of three priority links have been completed viz. Ken-Betwa link project (KBLP) Phase-I and II, Damanganga-Pinjal link project and Par-Tapi-Narmada link project. Various Statutory Clearances have been obtained for KBLP Phase-I and the project report is ready for implementation.  Union Minister WR, RD & GR has discussed KBLP Phase-I with Chief Ministers of U.P. and M.P. and MoU for water sharing and implementation is expected to be signed shortly. Further, Union Minister for Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation has discussed Damanganga-Pinjal link and Par- Tapi-Narmada link projects with Chief Ministers of Gujarat and Maharashtra and shortly the MoU for water sharing is expected to be signed in this regard.

Since April 2017, Central assistance of approximately Rs. 150 crore has been released for Flood Management to the States.

Rs. 199.96 crore (Approx) Central assistance released to different states Since April, 2017 under river Management Activities & Works related to Border Areas (RMBA).

Total CA released to state Govt. under SMI scheme was Rs. 232.879 crore during the period FY – 2017-18 (till date).

Total CA released to state Govt. under RRR scheme was Rs. 17.3026 crore during the period FY – 2017-18 (till date).

Rs. 155.92 crore released/expended to the States and central implementing agencies under NHP for the year 2017-18.

Dam Rehabilitation and Improvement Project has been taken up with loan assistance from the World Bank for rehabilitation and improvement of about 223 dams in seven States (namely Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, and Uttarakhand) and Institutional Strengthening of Central Water Commission (CWC) and other Implementing Agencies. DRIP was originally planned to be implemented over a period of six-years starting from April 18, 2012. The project has now been extended for two additional years with extended completion date to be June 30, 2020.

National Hydrology Project (NHP) has been taken up with the assistance of World Bank with total outlay of Rs.3679.7674 crore. NHP is a Central Sector Scheme, with 100% grant to the States with World Bank Assistance to the tune of 50% of the project cost. It has pan India coverage with 49 Implementing Agencies (IAs) (including 10 from Central Government and 39 from States). The project has a total duration of eight years from 2016-17 to 2023-24. The project objective of NHP is to improve the extent, quality, and accessibility of water resources information, decision support system for floods and basin level resource assessment/planning and to strengthen the capacity of targeted water resources professionals and management institutions in India.

NWM has focused on improving water use efficiency. During 2016-17, 21 Baseline Studies and during 2017-18, five baseline studies for improving water use efficiency for irrigation projects have been taken up in Major/Medium Irrigation projects located in Assam, Manipur, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and Maharashtra.

The mediation efforts of Ministry of Water Resources, RD&GR have helped the states of J&K and Punjab reach an agreement under its aegis to resume works of Shahpur Kandi Dam project in Punjab/J&K. Both the Governments have ratified the agreement and construction of the project to be resumed shortly.

MI (Stats) Wing conducts quinquennial census of minor irrigation structures in the Country which throws light on important parameters like number of Minor Irrigation structure, type of lifting devices, source of energy, source of finance, Irrigation Potential Created, Irrigation Potential Utilized, Culturable command area etc. which have important bearing on policy formulation of irrigation Sector. 5th Minor irrigation Census has been completed with reference year 2013- 14 and the same has been put on the website of the Ministry in November, 2017.

MoU Signed in 2017: India-Netherlands: A memorandum of understanding between India and the Netherlands was signed on June 27, 2017 on cooperation in the field of Water Management by collaborating and sharing of experience and expertise in the areas mutually agreed upon, including technique in river basin management planning/ integrated water resources management, pollution abatement for river including river Ganga, decision support systems, delta management-water safety including flood management along rivers, water management, water quality issues and waste water recycling, and re-use through innovative concession arrangement.

The programme named National Aquifer Management (NAQUIM) for mapping of water bearing aquifers has been planned with an aim to enhance the capacity of states in Ground Water Management and Development. Total targeted area for National Aquifer Mapping and Management Programme was 8.89 lakh Sq. km including 5.25 lakh Sq.km prioritized area (during 2012-17) against 24 Lakh Sq. km area identified for mapping in the country. By the end of March 2017, aquifer maps and management plans were developed for an area of 6.31 lakh Sq. km. During April 2017 to October 2017, an additional area of 1.38 lakh Sq. km has been covered under aquifer mapping and management plan taking the total coverage to 7.69 lakh Sq. km, which is shared/would be shared with the respective State Governments agencies.

Two-day event ‘Jal Manthan-4’ was organized on July 28-29, 2017 at New Delhi by National Water Development Agency (NWDA) with the technical support of Central Water Commission.

The fifth edition of India Water Week was observed during October 10-14, 2017 New Delhi. It was inaugurated by President of India Shri Ram Nath Kovind. The theme for this year’s India Water week was “Water and Energy for Inclusive Growth”. There was also an exhibition running in parallel supporting the theme and showcasing the technologies, latest developments and solutions available for the areas in, water and energy.

Ministry of Water Resources, RD & GR has completely operationalized eOffice. This Ministry has more than 90% electronic Files usage in eOffice and the percentage of Physical Files being used is less than 10% only. The MIS / Dashboard for monitoring the Physical and financial achievement of 99 projects under PMKSY has been developed and launched in public domain. The work done in development of PMKSY Dashboard has been appreciated by Principal Secretary to PM as well.

Several measures have been adopted by this Ministry to increase the grievance disposal rate lodged on CPGRAMS Portal as well as received physically resulting in 98% disposal from 88% in previous year.

The following important projects completed successfully by WAPCOS, MoWR, RD & GR:-

Afghan-India Friendship Dam Project, Herat Province, Afghanistan Development of Six Irrigation Schemes in Champassack Province, Lao PDR.

 Project Management for Augmentation of Water Supply Scheme in Dar-Es-Salaam and Chalinze, Tanzania, Stung Tasal Dam Project, Cambodia.

Preparation of Feasibility Report and Detailed Project Report on Sewerage and Sewage Treatment for Bhopal City.

Project Management Consultancy for Madhya Pradesh Urban Development Project, Bhopal (World Bank Funded).

Project Development and Management Consultant (PDMC) for Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation including Project Management of Haryana and Madhya Pradesh.

Major Activities in 2017 by Peninsular River wing.

In the year 2017 Dam Break Analysis were conducted on 64 Dams for preparation of Inundation maps. Emergency Action Plans (EAPs) prepared by State IAs have been reviewed and commented upon by CPMU

Total of 109 NITs worth Rs. 600 Cr were issued since January 2017 and works of 145 packages worth Rs. 373 Cr were awarded till date. During this period with in a period of 11 months an expenditure of Rs. 596 Cr. was incurred

One Dam Safety Conference was organized in Roorkee in which 466 delegates (with 30 International) participated. 35 Indian and Foreign organizations showcased their products, technology and services in the exhibition.

Two International trainings were conducted in which 43 officials from all participating State were trained. In addition 22 National Trainings were conducted in different implementing agencies benefitting 716 officials.

Four Draft Guidelines on various aspects of dam safety have been prepared under the project and in the process of finalization.

DHARMA, web based dam inventory management software has been completed. Efforts are being made to capture the dam related data on this platform.

Third Party Evaluation Study of DRIP scheme has been carried out by the IIT Roorkee.

Proposal for DRIP-II covering 684 dams of 18 States and two central agencies grossing to amount Rs. 9070 Crore prepared and sent to MoWR,RD&GR for in-principal approval.

Two special Dam Safety Review Panel have been constituted under DRIP for comprehensive dam safety review  Kadana and Bheema and interim report submitted to MoWR, RD &GR.

The project “Protection of Majuli island from flood and erosion” was approved by the MoWR, RD & GR for a value of Rs 237 crores. Out of the total amount, funding of Rs 207 crores has been provided by DONER. Brahmaputra Board has awarded the work which is presently in progress. Successful conclusion of this project will provide succour to Majuli, which is the largest river island in the world, from flood and erosion.

Swachhta Pakhwada from 16th to 31st March 2017 under SAP:

The Ministry alongwith with all attached/ subordinate/ autonomous organizations/PSUs organised the Swacchta Pakhwada from March 16-31, 2017. Ministry celebrated the “World Water Day” on 22^nd March 2017 with a cleanliness event at Brij Ghat, Garhmukteshwar, Distt. Hapur, Uttar Pradesh. MoS (WR, RD &GR) Shri Sanjeev Balyan led the cleanliness activity along with officers/ staff of the Ministry.

During this fortnight, approximately 100 major events as Swachhta Pakhwada were organized all over the country ranging from Jammu & Kashmir to Kerala and from Assam to Maharashtra totalling 25 States and UTs of the country.

Some of the highlights of the Swachhta Pakhwada are as under:

The Cleanliness drives was organised as a pan India Mission and remotest areas of the country were targeted to make it a ‘Jan Andolan’.

Awareness drive was also organised in Srinagar, Manipur etc. and also the remotest area of Jharkhand and Bihar. The aim was to disseminate the information to people living in remote villages/ tribal people.

Special emphasis was given to clean the Ganga Ghats at different places. To make it a ‘Jan Andolan’, people from different walks of life was exhorted for this noble cause by organising Chaupals, Rallies, Padyatras, painting/ drawing competitions etc.

Efforts were made to incorporate more and more children by organising events in schools at different places to inculcate the cleanliness values in Nation’s future stakeholders.

Innovative works were carried out during these Swachhta Pakhwada by renovation, cleaning and deepening of water bodies like Dams, Ponds etc. in remotest villages.

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Samir/SKP/IA/jk