Lok Sabha Question No. 4021 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2018-08-10
Subject: Rivers Restoration Projects
Ministry: ENVIRONMENT,  FORESTS AND CLIMATE CHANGE
Asked by: KRISHNAN NARAYANASAMY RAMACHANDRAN, V. SATHYABAMA

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 4021

TO BE ANSWERED ON 10.08.2018

## Rivers Restoration Projects

4021. SHRI K.N. RAMACHANDRAN: SHRIMATI V. SATHYA BAMA:

Will the Minister of ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Government has received any proposal from the State Government of  Tamil  Nadu  for  the  Rivers  Restoration  Projects  to  restore  the  river  systems  and water bodies in and around Chennai, Kanchipuram and Tiruvallur Districts;
- (b) if so, the details thereof and the list of projects given approval or to be approved and the amount earmarked and funds allocated for the same;
- (c) whether the Government has any plans to introduce state of the art technology in carrying out rivers cleaning and de-silting process on its own or with Public-Private Partnership (PPP) mode; and
- (d)     if so, the details thereof and the list of those projects approved and carried out in the last three years, year-wise, State-wise?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER  OF  STATE  IN  THE  MINISTRY  OF  ENVIRONMENT,  FOREST  AND CLIMATE CHANGE (DR. MAHESH SHARMA)

(a) & (b) This Ministry has been supplementing the efforts of the State Governments in abatement of pollution in identified stretches of various rivers in the country, including Tamil  Nadu,  under  the  National  River  Conservation  Plan  (NRCP),  on  cost  sharing basis between the Central and State Governments. 29 projects have been sanctioned for pollution abatement of Cooum and Adyar rivers in Chennai under NRCP at a total cost of Rs.404.25 crore for implementation of works relating to interception & diversion of  sewage, laying of sewer lines, construction  of  Sewage Treatment  Plants (STPs), crematoria, etc., and Central funds amounting to Rs. 375.65 crore have been released to  Government of Tamil Nadu for implementation of these works. Sewage treatment capacity of 264 million litres per day (mld.) has been created in Chennai under NRCP. No projects has been sanctioned under NRCP for any rivers stretches in Kanchipuram and Tiruvallur Districts of Tamil Nadu.

Under  another  scheme  of  National  Plan  for  Conservation  of  Aquatic  Ecosystems  (NPCA),  Central  funds  amounting  to  Rs.  2.23  crore  have  so  far  been released to the State Government for conservation of Pallikaranai wetland in Chennai.

(c) & (d)  From time to time, new sewage treatment technologies are taken up under the NRCP programme. In the recent past, a 5 mld Pilot Plant using innovative Downflow Hanging Sponge (DHS) system for post-treatment treatment of Upflow Anaerobic Sludge Blanket (UASB) effluents has been installed at Agra with assistance of Japan International  Cooperation  Agency.  Pilot  projects  for  in-situ  treatment  of  sewage through bio-remediation have also been set up at Budha Nalla in Ludhiana, Punjab using Green Bridge Technology and at Baker Ganj Nalla in Patna using Eco-Bio Block (EBB)  technology.  To  strengthen  the  sustainability  of  the  projects,  the  Government also  encourages  design,  build  and  operate  (DBO)  model  for  implementation  of projects under NRCP.

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