Lok Sabha Question No. 676 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2018-12-13
Subject: Bacterial Bioremediation Technique for Ganga River Cleaning
Ministry: WATER RESOURCES, RIVER DEVELOPMENT AND GANAGA REJUVENATION
Asked by: MOHANBHAI KALYANJIBHAI KUNDARIYA

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

## LOK SABHA UN STARRED QUESTION NO. 676

ANSWERED ON 13.12 .201 8

## BACTERIAL BIOREMEDIA TION TECHNIQUE FOR G ANGA RIVER CLEANING

## 676. SHRI KUNDARIYA MOHAN BHAI KALYANJI BHAI

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

(a) the quantum of funds provided for cleaning of Ganga river along with the success a therein so far;

(b) whether the  Government  proposes  to  utilise  bacterial  bioremediation  technique  for  t completion of Ganga river cleaning project;

(c) if so, the details and the benefits thereof;

(d)  whether  the  side  effects/damage  possible  by  deployment  of  new  technique  hav e  been considered before its use; and

(e) if so, the details and the outcome thereof?

## ANSWER

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

(DR.  SATYA PAL SINGH)

(a)Government of India is supplementing the efforts of the state governments in address pollution of river Ganga by providing financial assistance to the states. Government of provided an amount of Rs. 20,000 crore under the Namam i G nge Programme. The Namami Gange Programme is an umbrella programme which integrates previous and currently ongoi initiatives  by  enhancing  efficiency,  extracting  synergies  and  supplementing  them  wit comprehensive & better coordinated interventio ns.

Till, 30 th Nov 2018, 254 projects of sewerage infrastructure, bioremediation, modu STPs,  rural  sanitation,  industrial  pollution  abatement,  river  front  development,  g crematoria  development,  ghat cleaning,  river  surface  cleaning,  biodiversity  and  afforestat compositeecological taskforceand capacity building have been sanctioned at a costof

Rs. 24,672 crore for various activities, out of which 75 projects have been completed and projects are at various stages of implementation.

Under sewerage infrastructure, t ill, 30 th Nov 2018, 131 projects (105 on Ganga & 26 on tributaries) of sewerage infrastructure at a sanctioned cost of Rs. 19,742 crore have been taken up for  creation  of  new  3083  MLD  STP  capacity,  rehabilitation  of  886  MLD  STP  capacity  a laying  of  approx.  4871  KM  sewerage  networks.  Till  date,  31  Sewage  projects  for  poll abatement have been c ompleted which has resulted in laying of 2268 Km sewer networks and creation of 560 MLD of sewage treatment plant capacity in Ganga basin .

(b)  &  (c) Bacterial  remediation  or  bioremediation  is  a  system  of  sewage  treatment  wh microbial consortia/nutrient media consisting of naturally occurring bacteria, fungi or used  to  remediate  flowing  sewage.  This  treatment  method  is  significantly  less  c ostly  and requires  much  shorter  duration  of  time  of  few  months  only  for  commissioning  and  show results. Implementing these techniques prevent degraded quality of water from flowing d into river Ganga and its tributaries.

Bio- remediation project s have been sanctioned for Bakarganj and Danapur Cantt (Patna), Nehru Drain (Allahabad), Digha Ghat Drain (Patna), Laksar Drain (Haridwar), Rajapura D (Patna), Galaothi Drain (Bulandshehar), Ramnagar Drain (Varanasi), Assi River (Varanasi)

(d)  &  (e) Yes  Madam,  an  expert  evaluation  Committee  under  chairmanship  of  Prof.  S.P Gautam, Ex - Chairman, Central Pollution Control Board with other members namely Sh. S.R Wate,  Ex - Director,  National  Environmental  Engineering  Research  Institute  (NEERI)  an Member Secretary, Central Pollution Control Board, has been constituted which evaluat proposals  in  its  entirety  including  side  effects/  possible  damage  etc.  Based recommendation new technologies for bio - remediation  of  drains/  sewage  treatment/  poll ution abatement in the river Ganga basin is taken up for implementation.

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