Lok Sabha Question No. 9 (STARRED), answered on 2017-02-02
Subject: Cleaning of Ganga River
Ministry: WATER RESOURCES, RIVER DEVELOPMENT AND GANAGA REJUVENATION
Asked by: CHANDU LAL SAHU, VEENA DEVI

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF WATER RESOURCES, RIVER DEVELOPMENT & GANGA REJUVENATION

## LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. *9

ANSWERED ON 02.02.2017

## CLEANING OF GANGA RIVER

## *9. SHRI CHANDU LAL SAHU SHRIMATI VEENA DEVI

Will the Minister of WATER  RESOURCES, RIVER  DEVELOPMENT  AND  GANGA REJUVENATION be pleased to state:

- (a) the funds allocated and spent in cleaning of the Ganga River during the last two years;
- (b) the details of new technologies being used for cleaning;
- (c) the steps taken by the Government to expedite the treatment of solid waste floating in rivers in the country especially the Ganga; and
- (d)  whether  the  Government  plans  to  outsource  the  work  of  cleaning  of  River  Ganga  to  private contractors and if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

THE  MINISTER  OF  STATE  (IC)  FOR  YOUTH  AFFAIRS  &  SPORTS  AND  MINISTER  OF STATE     FOR  WATER  RESOURCES,      RIVER     DEVELOPMENT     AND     GANGA REJUVENATION

(SHRI VIJAY GOEL)

- (a) to (d)       A Statement is laid on the Table of the House.

## STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (A) TO (D) OF LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION  NO.9  TO  BE  ANSWERED  ON  THURSDAY,  THE  2 ND FEBRUARY,  2017  ON 'CLEANING OF GANGA RIVER' RAISED BY SHRI CHANDU LAL SAHU & SHRIMATI VEENA DEVI.

(a) The funds allocated for cleaning river Ganga during 2014-15 and 2015-16 is Rs. 2053.00 crore and Rs. 1650.00 crore respectively(Revised Estimates). The funds released by Ministry of Water Resources, River Development & Ganga Rejuvenation, Government of India to National Mission for Clean Ganga during the same period is Rs. 326.00 crore and Rs. 1632.00 crore respectively.

(b) Pollution in river Ganga is primarily caused by the untreated or partially treated municipal sewage being drained either directly in the river or its tributaries, effluents being discharged from various kind of industrial units and also solid waste being generated at different public places along the river. To address the issue of management of pollution load in river, various kind of technologies have been employed in last two years which are described below:

i.  Aerobic  treatment  of  sewage  coupled  with  nutrient  removal  process  by  adopting  these processes in various Sewage Treatment Plants being designed and executed.

ii.  Disinfection  of  treated  sewage  to  manage the its bacteriological standards by elimination of faecal coliform by employing chlorination/ UV irradiation and advanced filtration;

iii.  In-situ  treatment  of  drains  by  adopting  bio-remediation  measures  wherever  conventional sewage treatment is not feasible because of techno-economic considerations;

iv.  Mix  of  an  aerobic  and  aerobic  process  through  use  of  natural  or  constructed  wetlands  in locations,  particularly  in  rural  and  semi-urban  situations,  where  availability  of  land  is  not  a constraint  and  availability  of  assured  power  supply  for  operation  of  conventional  STPs  is constrained.

v.  Arresting the river surface floating waste by deployment of mechanical trash skimmers and floating booms and its disposal through Urban Local bodies.

(c)  As  part  of  Namami  Gange  Programme,  mechanical  trash  skimmer  and  floating  boom  barriers  are under deployment at 11 priority towns along main-stem Ganga and Yamuna to arrest the floating solid waste in the river.

Further, M/s IL&FS Environmental Infrastructure & Services Ltd has been entrusted the works of Ghats cleaning at Varanasi to ensure arresting the solid waste disposal in the river and keeping the ghats neat & clean with central financial support of Rs. 5.00 crore per year.

(d) The work of cleaning the river Ganga is being executed by State agencies as well as Central PSUs through competitive bidding process for award of works.