Lok Sabha Question No. 2457 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2023-08-03
Subject: Namami Gange Programme
Ministry: JAL SHAKTI
Asked by: Raghu Ramakrishna Raju Kanumuru, Komati Reddy Venkat Reddy, Manne Srinivas Reddy

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF JAL SHAKTI

## DEPARTMENT OF WATER RESOURCES, RIVER DEVELOPMENT & GANGA REJUVENATION

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2457

ANSWERED ON 03.08.2023

## NAMAMI GANGE PROGRAMME

## SHRI KANUMURU RAGHU RAMA KRISHNA RAJU

## †2457. SHRI KOMATI REDDY VENKAT REDDY SHRI MANNE SRINIVAS REDDY

Will the Minister of JAL SHAKTI be pleased to state:

(a)  whether  large-scale  human  efforts  have  been  undertaken  under  the  Namami  Gange  Programme, since 2014, to clean the river Ganga and rejuvenate its marine life, especially turtles, has been playing a key role in rejuvenation and if so, the details thereof;

(b) whether the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) and the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change  joined  hands  with  the  National  Mission  for  Clean  Ganga  (NMCG)  in  implementing  this Programme and running the turtle breeding and rehabilitation centre in some parts of the country with about a dozen of the 29 turtle species in the country and if so, the present status thereof along with the funds sanctioned thereon;

(c) whether the quality of water in river Ganga has improved and the turtles have a role as they feed on meat and waste products thrown in the river and if so, the details thereof; and

(d) whether similar steps would also be taken up in cleaning the Rivers like Musi and if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

## THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR JAL SHAKTI

## ( SHRI BISHWESWAR TUDU )

(a) Under  Namami  Gange  Programme,  a  comprehensive  set  of  interventions  such  as  wastewater treatment,  solid  waste  management,  river  front  management  (ghats  and  crematoria  development), eflow,  afforestation,  biodiversity  conservation  and  Public  Participation  etc.  have  been  taken  up  for rejuvenation  of  river  Ganga  and  its  tributaries.  This  also  includes  ecological  surveys,  capacity development, community mobilization, conservation education and awareness, fish ranching, livelihood  enhancement  for  conservation  &  rejuvenation  of  Ganga  initially  in  the  five  Ganga  River States, which has now been up scaled to the entire Ganga basin.

So far, a total of 442 projects have been taken up at an estimated cost of Rs. 37,395.51 Crore, out of which  254  projects  have  been  completed.  Majority  of  the  projects  pertain  to  creation  of  sewage infrastructure  as  the  untreated  domestic/industrial  wastewater  is  the  main  reason  for  pollution  in  the river.  193 sewerage infrastructure projects have been taken up with a cost of Rs. 30,797.24 crore for creation & rehabilitation of 6029.75 Million Litres per Day (MLD) of Sewage Treatment Plant (STP) capacity  and  laying  of  around  5,250.98  km  sewerage  network.   Out  of  these,  106  sewerage  projects have  been  completed  and  balance  are  at  various  stages  of  implementation.   With  the  completed projects, 2664.05 MLD STP capacity has been created/rehabilitated and 4436.26 km sewer network has been laid.

(b) National  Mission  for  Clean  Ganga  (NMCG)  has  collaborated  with  Wildlife  Institute  of  India (WII),  an  autonomous  institute  of  the  Ministry  of  Environment  Forests  and  Climate  Change  for  the conservation and restoration of aquatic biodiversity of the river Ganga, including turtles. Accordingly, NMCG has sanctioned a project titled 'Planning and Management for Aquatic Species Conservation and Maintenance of Ecosystem Services in The Ganga river Basin for Clean Ganga' to WII at a cost of Rs. 113.99 crore, with turtle conservation & restoration as a part of the project.

The Ganga basin has 15 species of turtles.  Turtle rescue centers have been established under the WII project at Narora & Sarnath in Uttar Pradesh, Bhagalpur in Bihar, Barackpore in West Bengal and Bhind  in  Madhya  Pradesh.  WII  has  informed  that  through  these  centers,  6057  turtles  of  different species have been rescued and 6469 turtles have been released since 2016. A cadre of "Ganga-Praharis" have  also  been  developed  for  conservation  &  restoration  of  aquatic  biodiversity  of  river  Ganga, including freshwater turtles.

(c) Cleaning  of  river  Ganga  is  a  continuous  process  and  National  Mission  for  Clean  Ganga  is implementing various projects for conservation and rejuvenation of river Ganga and its tributaries.

Based on the water quality assessment by CPCB in 5 Ganga main stem states in 2022,  the observed water  quality  of  river  Ganga  indicates  that  Dissolved  Oxygen  (DO),  which  is  an  indicator  of  river health has been found to be within acceptable limits of notified primary bathing water quality criteria and is satisfactory to support the ecosystem of the river for almost the entire stretch of the river Ganga. As  a  result  of  multi  sectoral  interventions,  as  per  comparison  of  median  data  of  water  quality parameters viz., DO, Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD) and Faecal Coliforms (FC) of year 2014 and 2022; DO (Median) has improved at 32 locations; BOD at 41 locations and FC at 27 locations, respectively.

Turtles and other aquatic animals are a part of the river ecosystem, and their presence can contribute to the overall ecological balance of the river. While turtles are omnivorous and can consume various types of food, such as dead bodies including dead organic matter, small aquatic animals, and aquatic plants, their impact on large-scale water quality improvement is limited. Pollution abatement & other conservation works play a much larger role in Water Quality improvement.

(d) Under National River Conservation Plan (NRCP), this Ministry has been supplementing efforts of  the  States/UTs  by  providing  financial  and  technical  assistance  for  pollution  abatement  of  rivers, excluding Ganga and its tributaries, relating to interception & diversion of raw sewage, construction of sewerage system, setting up of sewage treatment plant (STP), low cost sanitation, river front/bathing ghat  development,  etc.  in  identified  polluted  stretches  of  rivers  in  the  country  including  Musi  in Telangana.

In  Telangana,  pollution  abatement  works  were  sanctioned  and  completed  under  NRCP  for conservation  of river  Musi  at  a  cost  of  Rs.335.65  crore  where  4  STPs  of  593  million  liters  per  day (MLD)  total  capacity  were  created  and  commissioned  during  2007  to  2013  in  Hyderabad.  Under Jawaharlal  Nehru  National  Urban  Renewal  Mission  (JNNURM)  scheme,  sewerage  master  plan  for priority  zones in Rajendranagar Circle was taken up wherein two STPs of 23 MLD & 5 MLD were constructed at Attapur & Miralam and commissioned to prevent entry of sewage into Musi river from the catchments of the said STP zones.

Government  of  Telangana,  on  its  own  resource,  has  also  sanctioned  31  STPs  of  1259.50  MLD capacity at a cost of Rs.3866.00 crore to achieve 100% treatment of sewage (to cater to the present and future generation of sewage) from Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) area.