Lok Sabha Question No. 3474 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2017-03-23
Subject: Private Participation in Ganga River Cleaning
Ministry: WATER RESOURCES, RIVER DEVELOPMENT AND GANAGA REJUVENATION
Asked by: KIRTI (JHA) AZAD

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

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. †3474

ANSWERED ON 23.03.2017

## PRIVATE PARTICIPATION IN GANGA RIVER CLEANING

## †3474. SHRI KIRTI AZAD

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

- (a) the details of stretches of Ganga river from the point of its origin to end which have been cleaned so far along with the extent of their cleaning;
- (b)  whether  the  cleaning  of  Ganga  river  is  being  undertaken  by  the  Government  agencies  or  through private sector and if so, the details thereof; and
- (c) the quantum of funds spent so far on its cleaning, stretch-wise?

## 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)  Cleaning  of  river  Ganga  is  being  carried  out  through  various  activities  including  treatment  of municipal sewage, treatment of industrial effluent, river surface cleaning, rural sanitation, afforestation & bio-diversity  etc.  The  municipal  sewage  being  generated  in  cities  on  the  banks  of  Ganga  is  being managed by a mix of Interception & Diversion projects, sewerage network and sewage treatment plant (STP) projects.

The four stretches of river Ganga where Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD) levels are more than permissible limits, as monitored by Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), is given in table below.

| State         | Stretch                       |   Identified Length of stretch (km) | BOD range/ max value (mg/l)   |
|---------------|-------------------------------|-------------------------------------|-------------------------------|
| Uttarakhand   | Haridwar to Sultanpur Adampur |                                  10 | 4.2-5.8                       |
| Uttar Pradesh | Kannauj to Varanasi           |                                 450 | 3.8-16.9                      |
| Bihar         | Buxar to Bhagalpur            |                                  40 | 7.8-27                        |
| West Bengal   | Tribeni to Diamon Harbour     |                                  50 | 3.1-5.8                       |

In  other  stretches,  BOD  levels  are  within  permissible  limit  i.e  =  <3mg/l.  However,  as  per monitoring reports of CPCB, entire stretch of river Ganga has high levels of faecal coilform against the prescribed standard.

- (b)  The  Government  approves  and  gets  the  projects  implemented  through  executing  agencies  of  the concerned State Government or Central Public Sector Undertakings. The executing agencies award these projects  to  private  sector  agencies  through  competitive  bidding  process  for  execution.  The  project execution is supervised by the concerned executing agency.
- (c) Funds are not spent stretch-wise, however, an amount of Rs. 1984.49 crore has been spent on cleaning of Ganga River and its tributaries from 2011-12 onwards.

*****