Lok Sabha Question No. 4331 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2016-08-11
Subject: River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation Schemes
Ministry: WATER RESOURCES, RIVER DEVELOPMENT AND GANAGA REJUVENATION
Asked by: SUNIL KUMAR MONDAL

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

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 4331 ANSWERED ON 11.08.2016

## RIVER DEVELOPMENT AND GANGA REJUVENATION SCHEMES

## 4331.   SHRI SUNIL KUMAR MONDAL

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

(a)  the  details  of  the  schemes  implemented  for  development  of  rivers  and  Ganga  Rejuvenation  by  the Government; and

(b) whether the Government has succeeded in implementing such schemes and if so, the extent thereof and if not, the reasons therefor?

## ANSWER

THE  MINISTER  OF  STATE  FOR  WATER  RESOURCES,  RIVER  DEVELOPMENT  AND  GANGA REJUVENATION (DR SANJEEV KUMAR BALYAN)

(a)  &  (b)      The  Government  has  launched  Namami  Gange  programme  for  pollution  abatement  and conservation of river Ganga and its tributaries under Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation (MOWR, RD & GR).  The primary focus of the program is on pollution abatement through construction of Sewage Treatment Plants, Common Effluent Treatment Plants, Ghat Development, Solid Waste Management and other activities to stop pollutants from reaching river Ganga. Besides this, the other activities like Bio-diversity conservation, large scale afforestation, making villages along river Ganga Open Defecation Free (ODF), research studies and public outreach programmes have also been envisaged.

Pollution abatement measures for rivers other than Ganga and its tributaries are implemented under National River  Conservation  Programme  (NRCP)  by  Ministry  of  Environment  ,  Forest  and  Climate  Change (MOEF&CC). The  works  undertaken  are  interception  &  diversion,  sewage  treatment  plant,  low-cost sanitation, river front development, crematoria and washerman's platform

As on 30th June 2016,97 projects have been sanctioned under Namami Gange programme (including the existing  projects  sanctioned  under  NGRBA  programme)  in  53  towns  at  an  estimated  project  cost  of  Rs 8588.21 crore. Out of these, 12 projects are sanctioned exclusively under new components of Namami

Gange programme at a sanctioned cost of Rs 351.42 crore.  Out of these 97 projects, 32 projects have been completed.  The  Government recently  launched  231  entry  level  and  medium  term  projects  under  Namami Gange  on  7th  July,  2016.  These  projects  include  Ghat  Development,  Crematoria,  setting  up  of  Sewage treatment plants, afforestation etc.

Apart from above, 'River Surface and Ghat Cleaning' programme using thrash skimmer has been taken up initially in 6  cities namely Mathura-Vrindavan, Kanpur, Allahabad, Varanasi, Patna and New Delhi under the Namami Gange programme. Also, 5 central public sector units namely WAPCOS, EIL, NBCC, NPCC and EPIL have been recently engaged to carry out of work on condition Assessment & Feasibility Study and Entry  level  activities  under  under  Namami  Gange  Programme  in  their  respective  river  stretches  in Uttarakhand,  UP,  Bihar,  Jharkhand  and  West  Bengal.  59  towns  have  been  surveyed  so  far  and  27  prefeasibility  reports  prepared  and  received. The other activities taken up under entry level activities include repair and modernization of Ghats, provision of public amenities, village level drain (VLD) treatment, repair and modernization of crematoria etc. 1242 ghats, 369 crematoria and 411 VLDs identified so far from the surveys and out of these 191 Ghats and 64 Crematoriums are recommended by ESC till date so far.

Conservation of rivers is a continuous and ongoing process.  The Government has achieved partial success in implementing these schemes. However,  for  complete cleaning of  any  river,  the  entire  stretch  of  the  river basin has to be treated so that no untreated waste water discharges into the river or water body.

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