Rajya Sabha updated on 409 projects taken up at Rs.32,912.40 crore
The Government has further approved Rs.22,500 crore Namami Gange Mission-II till 2026 interalia including projects for existing liabilities (Rs.11,225 crore) and new projects/interventions (Rs.11,275 crore).
The Rs.20,000 crore Programme was launched in June 2014 till 31 March 2021 to rejuvenate River Ganga and its tributaries
Giving this update, the Minister of State for Jal Shakti Bishweswar Tudu said in a written reply in Rajya Sabha on 13 Feb 2023, that Rs.14,084.72 crore has been released by the Government to the National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) from Financial Year (FY) 2014-15 till 31 January 2023, out of which Rs.13,607.18 crore have been released by NMCG to State Governments, State Missions for Clean Ganga and other agencies for implementation of projects related to Ganga rejuvenation.
Under Namami Gange Programme, a comprehensive set of interventions such as wastewater treatment, solid waste management, river front management (ghats and crematoria development), e-flow, afforestation, biodiversity conservation and Public Participation among others have been taken up for rejuvenation of river Ganga and its tributaries.
So far, till 31 December 2022, a total of 409 projects have been taken up at an estimated cost of Rs.32,912.40 crore, out of which 232 projects have been completed and made operational.
Majority of the projects pertain to creation of sewage infrastructure along the river, which is mainly pollution by the release of untreated domestic and industrial wastewater.
The Minister said that 177 sewerage infrastructure projects have been taken up with a cost of Rs.26,673.06 crore for creation and rehabilitation of 5,269.87 Million Litres per Day (MLD) of Sewage Treatment Plant (STP) capacity and laying of around 5,213.49 KM sewerage network.
Among these, 99 sewerage projects have been completed resulting in creation and rehabilitation of 2,043.05 MLD of STP capacity and laying of 4,260.95 KM sewerage network. In order to sustain the continued operation of the sewage treatment infrastructure, Hybrid Annuity based PPP mode has also been adopted.
Under the Namami Gange Programme, Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) is carrying out studies for water quality assessment of the River Ganga at 97 locations in 5 main stem States through the respective State Pollution Control Boards (SPCBs).
River water quality is assessed for primary water quality criteria notified for outdoor bathing. As per designated best use water quality criteria for drinking water specified by CPCB, river water can be used for drinking purpose only after appropriate treatment.
Based on the water quality assessment by CPCB in 5 Ganga main stem States in 2022 (January to October), the observed water quality indicates that median value of Dissolved Oxygen which is an indicator of river health has been found to be within acceptable limits of notified primary bathing water quality criteria and satisfactory to support the ecosystem of river for almost entire stretch of river Ganga.
The median value of Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD) has been found within the acceptable limits except marginal exceedance (BOD: 3.3 to 4.7 mg/L) in locations/stretches viz. stretch from (i) Farrukhabad to Kala Kankar, Rai Bareilly & D/s Mirzapur to Tarighat, Ghazipur (except U/s Varanasi, Vishwa Sundari Bridge) in Uttar Pradesh and (ii) at Shitalatala, Palta in West Bengal.
Further, as a result of multi sectoral interventions, as per comparison of median data of water quality parameters viz., DO, Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD) and Faecal Coliforms (FC) of year 2014 and 2022 (January to October); DO (Median) has improved at 33 locations, BOD (Median) has improved at 41 locations and FC (Median) has improved at 28 locations, respectively. fiinews.com
