THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR WATER RESOURCES, RIVER DEVELOPMENT AND GANGA REJUVENATION; PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS AND TEXTILES (INDEPENDENT CHARGE). (SHRI SANTOSH KUMAR GANGWAR)
(a)&(b) A national level consultation in the name of ‘Ganga Manthan’ was organized on 7th of July, 2014 at New Delhi to facilitate interaction with various stakeholders including policy makers and implementers, academicians, environmentalists, spiritual leaders and NGOs. The event was organized by the National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG), a registered society under Ministry of Environment & Forests (MoEF), implementing the river Ganga pollution abatement programme under National Ganga River Basin Authority
(NGRBA). It was aimed to provide a platform for various stakeholders to come together to discuss the issues and possible solutions to the challenging task of Ganga Rejuvenation. The views expressed by the stakeholders participating in ‘Ganga Manthan’ would be helpful for the preparation of a road map for the preparation of a comprehensive plan to rejuvenate the River Ganga. The programme being consultative in nature, question regarding decisions taken, schemes announced and financial allocation made for the next five years, does not arise.
(c) A Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) for 10 years has been signed in 2010 by MoEF& a consortium of 7 IITs for preparation of a comprehensive River Basin Management Plan for Ganga. Besides the IITs, National Institute of Hydrology (NIH), Roorkee, Banaras Hindu University, various universities and research institutes are also involved in Ganga River Basin Management Plan (GRBMP). Interim report has been submitted, which is circulated to different ministries, departments and other stakeholders for comments. For rivers other than Ganga, National River Conservation Directorate (NRCD) in MoEF, which is entrusted with implementation of Centrally Sponsored Scheme of National River Conservation Plan (NRCP) jointly with the State Governments on a cost-sharing basis, has identified polluted stretches of 40 major rivers in 121 towns spread over 19 States in the country, in which pollution abatement activities are being implemented under NRCP.
(d) Ministry of Environment & Forests (MoEF) have informed that pollution abatement of rivers, including building of toilets etc., is to be undertaken by the State Government/ local bodies concerned, as per their priorities. The role of the Central Government is promotional and to supplement the efforts of the State Govt.
(e) Central Pollution Control Board has inventorised 144 drains discharging wastewater into river Ganga directly. The total wastewater discharge from these drains is 6475 million litres per day
(mld) and carrying total Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD) load of 426 tonnes/ day. The details of river cleaning activities presently being implemented under NRCP is placed at Annexure-I. Regarding river Pamba (Kerala), MoEF have informed that a project for pollution abatement has been sanctioned at a cost of Rs. 18.45 crore. The works sanctioned under the project pertain to interception & diversion of sewage, sewage treatment plants, low cost sanitation, bathing ghats, solid waste management and public awareness & participation. The works of low- cost sanitation, bathing ghats, solid waste management and public awareness programme have been completed. Govt. of India has released an amount of Rs. 2.78 crore so far for implementation of the project. However, for other rivers namely Pampa and Hasdev, no proposal for abatement of pollution has been received by MoEF. These rivers are also not included in the list of 150 polluted river stretches identified by Central Pollution Control Board in 2010.
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