(a) whether the Government has formulated any concrete policy to make the Ganga river clean and if so, the details thereof;
(b) the total budget earmarked for its cleaning during the year 2017-18;
(c) the quantum of funds spent on its cleaning during each year of the current plan period along with the achievements made as a result of the same; and
(d) the further steps proposed to be taken to clean the river fully?
THE MINISTER OF STATE (IC) FOR YOUTH AFFAIRS & SPORTS AND MINISTER OF STATE FOR WATER RESOURCES, RIVER DEVELOPMENT AND GANGA REJUVENATION
(SHRI VIJAY GOEL)
(a) Ganga cleanliness campaign started in 1985 through introduction of Ganga Action Plan (GAP)-I. The GAP-I was completed in 2000. Further in 1993 GAP-II was introduced and later merged with National River Conservation Programme (NRCP). In 2009, NGRBA programme launched. Finally in 2014, Namami Gange an Integrated Ganga Conservation Mission was introduced. Namami Gange Mission, envisaged as an umbrella programme, aims at integrating previous & currently ongoing initiatives (e.g. projects under NGRBA programme) by enhancing efficiency, extracting synergies and supplementing them with more comprehensive & better coordinated interventions.
Under Namami Gange Programme a holistic approach has been adopted to clean the river Ganga. The various types of pollution abatement schemes taken up to clean Ganga may be categorized into core and non-core schemes. Core schemes include Interception and Diversion (I&D) of sewage discharging into the Ganga and creating treatment infrastructure to treat the intercepted sewage. Non-Core schemes include providing Low Cost Sanitation (LCS) at community and individual levels at identified locations, installation of Crematoria (electric as well as wood based improved crematoria), River Front Development (RFD) including bathing ghats, river surface cleaning, afforestation, protecting biodiversity and creating public awareness and participation.
(b) The Total budget proposed for Financial Year 2017-18 is Rs. 2,550/- crore.
(c) The quantum of funds spent during each year of the current plan period are given below:-
Rs. in crore
FY BE RE Actual Releases by Govt. of India Actual Expenditure/Releases by NMCG
2012-13 512.50 193.50 191.52 135.25
2013-14 355.00 309.00 303.95 266.20
2014-15 2,137.00 2,053.00 326.00 170.99
2015-16 2,750.00 1,650.00 1,632.00 602.60
2016-17
(till 28.02.2017) 2,500.00 1,675.00 1,675.00 756.01
Under Namami Gange Programme till 31st January 2017, 143 projects are sanctioned at an estimated cost of Rs 10,485.62. Out of these 63 projects are sanctioned for creation of 906.73 MLD new Sewage Treatment Plant, (STP) and rehabilitation of 1091.00 MLD of STP and laying/rehabilitation of 4031.41 km sewer network for abatement of pollution in river Ganga and Yamuna. Out of these 63 projects, till date 13 projects are completed which has created 198.13 MLD STP capacity (153.1 MLD for river Ganga and 45 MLD for Yamuna river) and laid 1147.75 km of sewerage network.
(d) The steps taken to clean the river include (i) creating necessary treatment capacities (both municipal sewage and industrial waste water) with an aim to stop untreated sewage and industrial waste falling in the river (ii) Complete facilities for rural sanitation; (iii) restoration of wholesomeness of river Ganga, maintaining the ecological and geological integrity of the river.
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