(a) whether the Union Government has received any proposal from the Government of Maharashtra for rejuvenation and revival of river system and water bodies and if so, the details thereof;
(b) the details of the projects approved/proposed to be approved along with the amount of funds earmarked and allocated therefor; and
(c) the details of the projects approved during each of the last three years, State-wise?
THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR JAL SHAKTI
(SHRI BISHWESWAR TUDU)
(a) & (b) Rivers and other water bodies in the country are polluted mainly due to discharge of untreated or partially treated sewage from cities/towns and industrial effluents in their respective catchments, dumping of wastes, agricultural run-off, lack of dilution and other non-point sources of pollution.
It is the responsibility of States/Union Territories (UTs) and local bodies to ensure required treatment of sewage and industrial effluent, before discharging into recipient water bodies or land for prevention and control of pollution therein. For conservation of rivers, this Ministry has been supplementing efforts of the States/UTs by providing financial and technical assistance for abatement of pollution in identified stretches of rivers in the country through the Central Sector Scheme of Namami Gange for rivers in Ganga basin and the Centrally Sponsored Scheme of National River Conservation Plan (NRCP) for other rivers.
Under NRCP, pollution abatement projects for conservation of five rivers in Maharashtra namely Krishna, Panchganga, Godavari, Tapi and MulaMutha, were sanctioned at a total cost of Rs.1182.86 crore. Under these projects, sewage treatment capacity of 260 million litres per day (mld) has been created so far in the towns of Karad, Sangli, Kolhapur, Nanded, Nashik, Triambakeshwar and Prakasha.
As per the information available, the State Government of Maharashtra informed NITI Aayog in June, 2019 regarding 21 proposals received by the State Environment Department from various local
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planning authorities for conservation and rejuvenation of rivers including Godavari, Panchganga, Ulhas, Kundalika, Waldhuni, Indrayani and Nag at a total estimated cost of Rs.3810 crore. The State Government requested for external support to prevent degradation of water bodies in the State, and also expressed the need for setting up a mission for cleaning of rivers in Maharashtra through pollution prevention and behavior changes under a nodal authority. However, no details were made available, except the proposal for pollution abatement of river Nag at Nagpur. Also, setting up any agency and/or mission for rejuvenation and transformation of rivers in Maharashtra remains the jurisdiction of the State Government.
In compliance of the orders of National Green Tribunal (NGT) in Original Application No.673/2018 regarding polluted river stretches in the country, States/UTs are required to implement action plans approved by Central Pollution Control Board for restoration of the said stretches in their jurisdiction within the stipulated timelines.
(c) State/UT wise details of projects approved under Namami Gange and NRCP programmes during the last three years are at Annexure.
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ANNEXURE
Annexure referred to in reply to part (c) of Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. †745 to be answered on the 02.12.2021 regarding ‘Rejuvenation of rivers in Maharashtra’
State/UT wise details of projects approved under Namami Gange and NRCP programmes during the last three years
(a) Under Namami Gange Programme
State/UT 2018-19 2019-20 2020-21
Uttarakhand 3 - 1
Uttar Pradesh 14 5 8
Bihar 8 3 1
Jharkhand - - 1
West Bengal 9 - 5
Delhi 1 - -
Himachal Pradesh 1 - -
Haryana - - -
Rajasthan - - 1
(b) Under NRCP
State/UT 2018-19 2019-20 2020-21
Sikkim 1 - 1
J&K 1 - -
Manipur 1 - -
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