Lok Sabha Question No. 1106 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2024-02-08
Subject: Cleaning of Small Rivers
Ministry: JAL SHAKTI
Asked by: Khan Saumitra, Malook Nagar

†1106.

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF JAL SHAKTI DEPARTMENT OF WATER RESOURCES, RIVER DEVELOPMENT & GANGA REJUVENATION

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1106

ANSWERED ON 08.02.2024

## CLEANING OF SMALL RIVERS

SHRI SAUMITRA KHAN

SHRI MALOOK NAGAR

Will the Minister of JAL SHAKTI be pleased to state:

(a) the details of measures being taken by the Government to maintain cleanliness in Ganga river and other small rivers flowing through the district headquarters, cities and industrial areas;

- (b) whether the Government proposes to make new provisions in this regard; and
- (c) if so, the details of the scheme being formulated in this regard?

## ANSWER

## THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR JAL SHAKTI

( SHRI BISHWESWAR TUDU )

(a) The Government of India (GoI) launched the Namami Gange Programme in 2014-15, to clean the river Ganga and other small rivers in  the  Ganga  basin  in  a  holistic  manner  with  a  basin  approach  along  with  a diverse set of interventions such as pollution abatement measures to tackle different sources of pollution such as municipal sewage, industrial effluents, interventions for improving  ecological flows, biodiversity conservation, afforestation, improving amenities and sanitation at riverbanks, capacity building, research  & monitoring and public awareness.

- i. To date, a total 457 number of projects (including sewage infrastructure) have been sanctioned at an estimated cost of ₹ 38,438.05 crore, out of which a total of 280 projects have been completed and made operational. A total 198 number of sewerage infrastructure projects have been taken up with a cost of ₹ 31,575.84 crore for creation & rehabilitation of 6,208.12 Million Litres per Day (MLD) of Sewage Treatment Plant (STP) capacity. Out of these, 111 sewerage projects have been completed resulting in the creation & rehabilitation of 2,844.00 MLD of sewage treatment capacity;
- ii. For industrial pollution abatement, the National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) has identified the industrial clusters and supported them through finance to sectors like tannery, textile effluent, and others. NMCG till date has sanctioned 5 industrial projects of Common Effluent Treatment Plants (CETPs)  i.e.  Jajmau  CETP  (20  MLD),  Banther  CETP  (4.5  MLD),  Unnao  CETP  (2.65  MLD), Mathura CETP (6.25 MLD) and Gorakhpur CETP (7.5 MLD). Out of these, the Mathura CETP (6.5 MLD) project has been completed. CETP Jajmau has also been completed and inaugurated by the Hon'ble Prime Minister on 30th Dec 2023. Other CETPs are also in progress;
- iii. To conserve wetlands, NMCG has brought wetland conservation to the basin level, with priority to floodplain wetlands and urban wetlands. Under the 'Namami Gange' program, 4 projects have been sanctioned  in  the  States  of  Uttar  Pradesh,  Bihar  &  Jharkhand  at  a  cost  of  ₹  12.53  crore  for  the conservation of wetlands;
- iv. An  annual  inspection  of  Grossly  Polluting  Industries  (GPIs)  operating  in  the  main  stem  of  river Ganga  &  its  tributaries  has  been  undertaken  under  the  Namami  Gange  Programme  since  2017. Inspection of 1109 GPIs in 2017, 961 GPIs in 2018, 1072 GPIs in 2019, 2740 GPIs in 2020, 2706 GPIs in 2021, and 3186 GPIs in 2022 were carried out by a joint team of technical institutes and concerned State Pollution Control Boards (SPCBs);
- v. PRAYAG or Platform for Real-time Analysis of Yamuna and Ganga & their Tributaries (Monitoring Centre)  is  meticulously  being  used  for  planning  and  monitoring  of  projects,  river  water  quality, performance of STPs, etc. through various online dashboards such as Ganga Tarang Portal, Jajmau Plant  through  Online  Drone  Data,  Project  Monitoring  Tool  (PMT)  Dashboard,  Ganga  Districts Performance Monitoring System, etc;
- vi. NMCG under "National River Ranching Programme 2023" a total of 93 lakhs of Indian Major Carp (IMC) fingerlings have been ranched in the Ganga since 2017 to conserve fish biodiversity and prey base for river Dolphins and ensure the livelihood of fishers in the Ganga basin;
- vii. For the conservation of riverine ecology, NMCG has sanctioned four Ganga Biodiversity Parks in the districts of Uttar Pradesh viz. Mirzapur, Bulandshahar, Hapur, and Budaun (one park for each District)  at  Rs.  24.97  crore.  Significant  improvements  in  biodiversity  with  increased  species sightings of Dolphins, Otters, Hilsa, Turtles, and other riverine species have been observed. Other measures include the implementation of comprehensive programs for fisheries which has resulted in the development of fish mapping of River Ganga on the GIS platform; etc. Over 30,000 Ha area has also been afforested;
- viii. Construction of independent household toilets in 4,507 identified villages in the five River Ganga States  has  already  been  completed.  All  these  Ganga  bank  villages  have  now  been  declared  Open Defecation-Free (ODF);
- ix. The National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) has undertaken comprehensive public awareness campaigns to foster a sense of responsibility and engagement among the public in efforts to clean and conserve the Ganga River. Sustained efforts to increase people's participation have transformed the Mission into a Jan Andolan. Activities include - Ganga Utsav, Nadi Utsav, regular cleanathons and plantation drives, Ghat Par Yoga, Ganga Aartis, etc. The efforts are also supported by dedicated cadres of Ganga saviours such as Ganga Praharis, Ganga Vichar Manch, Ganga Doots, etc;
- x. A cadre of Ganga Doots (45,000 Nos), Ganga Praharis (2,900 Nos), and Ganga Mitra (700 nos) are involved in public participatory activities;
- xi. To promote the cleanliness of the Ganga River at the district level, 139 District Ganga Committees (DGC) have been constituted under the chairmanship of District Magistrates. The performance is monitored by the Digital Dashboard for District Ganga Committees Performance Monitoring System (GDPMS). District Ganga Committees conducts 4M (Monthly, Mandated, Minuted, and Monitored) meetings regularly that was started on April 6, 2022 under the auspicious presence of the Hon'ble Minister of Jal Shakti. As of date, more than 2,493 meetings have been conducted;
- xii. NMCG together with other agencies in coordination with the selected DGCs have prepared District Ganga  Plans  for 4 districts  in  Ramganga  Basin  i.e.  Udham  Singh  Nagar  in  Uttarakhand, Shahjahanpur, Moradabad, and Bareilly in Uttar Pradesh using a common methodology and River Basin  Management  framework  developed  by  NMCG  with  technical  support  under  the  India-EU Water Partnership (IEWP). These help in fostering decentralized planning and better participation of people in river basin management;

(b) & (c) The government has taken several steps for the conservation of water and rejuvenation of small rivers. Some of them are detailed below;

- i. Hon'ble Prime Minister launched the Jal Shakti Abhiyan (JSA): Catch the Rain (CTR) campaign on 22nd March 2021, World Water Day, with the theme 'Catch The Rain, Where it falls, When it falls' to cover all the blocks of all districts (rural as well as urban areas) across the country during the pre-monsoon and monsoon period i.e. from March 2021 to 30 th November 2021. The focused interventions  of  the  campaign  included  (1)  water  conservation  and  rainwater  harvesting  (2) enumerating, geo-tagging & making an inventory of all water bodies; preparation of scientific plans for water conservation based on it, rejuvenation of small rivers (3) Setting up of Jal Shakti Kendras in all districts (4) intensive afforestation and (5) awareness generation. Funds from MNREGA and finance  commission  grants  were  also  pledged  for  the  water  conservation  works,  including  the rejuvenation of small rivers, to be taken up. During this campaign, a total of 46,76,852 water-related works were completed/ongoing, in addition to 36,76,60,580 afforestation activities were carried out;
- ii. The Ministry of Rural Development in consultation and agreement with the Department of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation, and the Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers' Welfare has developed an actionable framework for Natural Resources Management (NRM), titled 'Mission  Water  Conservation"  to  ensure  gainful  utilization  of  funds.  Types  of  common  works undertaken  under  these  programmes/  schemes  are  water  conservation  and  management,  water harvesting, soil and moisture conservation, groundwater recharge, flood protection, land development, Command Area Development & Watershed Management;
- iii. A joint advisory of the Department of Rural Development (DoRD), Department of Water Resources, River Development & Ganga Rejuvenation, Department of Land Resources (DoLR) and Department of Drinking Water & Sanitation (DoDWS) was issued on 24.04.2020 to all States/UTs to emphasize

efforts  in  the  area  of  water  conservation  and  water  management  in  the  country  essentially  for rejuvenating small rivers by engaging the communities through participatory mode;

- iv. Hon'ble  Prime  Minister  launched  the  Amrit  Sarovar  Mission  on  24th  April  2022.  The  Mission  is aimed at developing and rejuvenating 75 water bodies in each district of the country as a part of the celebration of Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav;
- v. Under the Namami Gange programme, for integrated rejuvenation of the National River Ganga and its  tributaries,  large  numbers  of  smaller  tributaries  have  been  mapped  along  with  their  catchment areas/watersheds and wetlands. A GIS-based inventory of small rivers has also been created with additional district-wise information (https://nmcg.nic.in/abamaps.aspx). Restoration and rejuvenation of  over  75  small  rivers  (lower  order  rivers/  tributaries  of  large  rivers)  leveraging  support  from MGNREGA, UP, and involving the District Ganga Committee in the Ganga basin have also been attempted. Besides, technical handholding through the Centre for Ganga River Basin Management and Studies (c Ganga) led by IIT Kanpur for providing scientific/ technical support;
- vi. Apart  from  these,  State  Governments  have  also  taken  up  many  special  programs  for  water conservation  and  rejuvenation  of  smaller  rivers  e.g.,  under  the  Small  River  Rejuvenation  & Conservation  plan,  19  rivers  have  been  successfully  taken  up  by  the  Uttar  Pradesh  Government. These rivers  are  River  Tedi,  Manorama,  Pandu,  Varuna,  Sasur  Khaderi,  Sai,  Gomti,  Aril,  Morva, Mandakini,  Tamsa,  Nad,  Karnavati,  Baan,  Sot,  Kali  East,  Dadi,  Ishan  and  Budhi  Ganga.  For  the conservation and rejuvenation, six projects on River Shivna, Mandakini, Rispana & Bindal, Kosi, Budhi Gandak, Ramrekha with focussed interventions have been taken up in the Ganga basin.

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