Lok Sabha Question No. 1417 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2018-07-26
Subject: Silt Deposits in Ganga and Yamuna Rivers
Ministry: WATER RESOURCES, RIVER DEVELOPMENT AND GANAGA REJUVENATION
Asked by: RAJENDRA AGRAWAL

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

## LOK SABHA UN STARRED QUESTION NO. 1417

## ANSWERED ON 26.0 7.201 8

## SILT DEPOSITS IN GAN GA AND YAMUNA RIVERS

## 1417. SHRI RAJENDRA AGRAWAL

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

(a) whether the Government has conducted or proposes to conduct an inspection of location silt deposits in Ganga and Yamuna rivers and if so, the details thereof;

(b)  the  date  on  which  the  said  inspection  was  conducted  along  with  the  steps  take Government in this regard;

(c) whether various States have raised their concern in this regard and if so, the detai the action taken thereon;

(d) the steps taken by the Government to remove silt deposits from Ganga and Yamuna rive (e) whether the Government has fixed any time limit for the purpose and if so, the deta along with the time by which silt deposits are like ly to be removed?

## ANSWER

## THE  MINISTER  OF  STATE  FOR  WATER  RESOURCES, RIVER  DEVELOPMENT  AND GANGA REJUVENATION & HUMAN RESOURCES DEVELOPMENT

## ( DR. SATYA PAL SINGH )

(a) to (c) On the request of State Government of Bihar, a Central team led by Secretary, Min Water Resources, River Development & Ganga Rejuvenation along with officials and expert Sh. A.B. Pandya, former Chairman, Central Water Commission and Prof. Z. Ahmed, IIT Roorkee had visited the State on 5 th June' 2017 and held discussions with State Government officials. An aerial survey of the reach of river Ganga from Buxar to Farakka was carried out by th team.

The  team  held  discussions  with  Hon'ble Chief  Minister  of  Bihar  along  with  State Government officials and experts wherein it was decided that a Committee to look into aspects  of  floods  and  siltation  in  the  State  of  Bihar  shall  be  constituted.  The  opin Government of Bihar has lso been obtained in respect of constitution of the Committee incl its Terms of Reference.

Consequently, a Committee has been constituted under the Chairmanship of Shri Pandya, Former Chairman, Central Water Commission (CWC), to address the is sues of flood and siltation in the state of Bihar. The Committee was constituted on 24th August, 2017.

(d)Erosion and deposition of silt is a natural process in alluvial rivers. Rivers carr pickup and drop silt load as per their regime conditions i.e. discharge in the river, river slop nature of silt etc. A Committee headed by Dr. B.K. Mittal, former Chairman, CWC had stud siltation pattern in few rivers in India and int er - ali concluded that siltation was not pronounced an alarming. The Committee also found that de - silting in general was not feasible technically due to several re asons  like  non - sustainability, non- availability  of  vast  land  required  for  the  disposa dr edged  material  etc.  However,  cost  effective  measures  for  removal  of  drainage  conges specific reaches of rivers for channel capacity improvement and navigation purposes are f and  implemented  by  concerned  states  /  agencies  as  per  requirement. The  Union  Government renders assistance to States which is technical, advisory, catalytic and promotional in n

(e)No, Madam. The Government has not fixed any time limit for removal of the silt deposits.

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