(a) the steps being taken by the Government to tackle the erosion of villages caused by the floods in Ganga river flowing through approximately hundred kilometre area in Bijnor Parliamentary Constituency;
(b) the details of the funds spent so far on the cleanliness of Ganga along with the details of works on which the said funds have been spent, location-wise; and
(c) the details of the length of embankments targeted to be constructed every year on either banks of the Ganga river?
THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR JAL SHAKTI
(SHRI BISHWESWAR TUDU)
(a) The State Government of Uttar Pradesh has informed that several anti-erosion works have been carried out in different years in Bijnor Lok Sabha Constituency to protect the villages situated on the right and left banks of the river Ganga from erosion. The Assembly segments of Meerapur, Hastinapur, Bijnor sadar, Najibabad, Chandpur and Nagina come under Bijnor Lok Sabha Constituency. In Meerapur, anti-erosion works of 1.5 km have been completed for protecting the villages Ujiali Khurd, Ishaqvala, Ahmedwala and Alluvala, located on the right bank of the Bijnor barrage on river Ganga in Muzaffarnagar district with an estimated cost of Rs.3.71 crore. In Hastinapur, several anti-erosion projects have been constructed in the last three years for protection of village Fatehpur Prem, Haripur, Hansapur, Parsapur, Sirjepur Kunda, Aidalpur, Nimka, Khanpur, Gadhi, Shivnagar and Sikandarpur with total cost of Rs. 30.58 crore. In Najibabad & Bijnor, anti-erosion works have been carried to protect villages on the left bank of river Ganga and State Government of Uttar Pradesh is contemplating anti-erosion and flood protection works for the protection of villages Ganspur, Sukhapur, Kundanpur, Mirzapur, Simli, Rajarampur, Raghunathpur etc. situated on the left bank of river Ganga at an estimated cost of Rs. 63.29 crore with funding from NABARD.
(b) Under Namami Gange Programme, a comprehensive set of interventions such as wastewater treatment, solid waste management, river front management (ghats and crematoria development), e-flow, afforestation, biodiversity conservation and public participation etc. have been taken up for rejuvenation of river Ganga and its tributaries. The National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) releases funds to State Governments /State Missions for Clean Ganga/ CPSUSs/ Other Executing Agencies. Under the Namami Gange Programme, Rs.13,109.72 crore were released by the Government of India to NMCG during the period FY 2014-15 to 2022-23 (till 30 June 2022). NMCG, in turn, released/expended Rs.12,377.23 crore to various implementing agencies, including State Governments, for implementation of the program. Amounts released/expended by NMCG to various agencies, compiled State-wise, during the said period, are given below-
State Total (Rs. in cr.)
Uttarakhand 1,097.09
Uttar Pradesh 4,107.32
Bihar 3,153.26
Jharkhand 250.05
West Bengal 1,232.87
Madhya Pradesh 9.89
Delhi 1,253.86
Haryana 89.61
Rajasthan 71.25
Himachal Pradesh 3.75
Other basin wide interventions, including NMCG’s operational expenses 1,108.28
Grand Total 12,377.23
(c) As far as embankments are concerned, these are generally considered economical, quick and most popular method of flood protection and have been constructed extensively in the past. Embankments (including ring bunds and town protection works) confine the flood flows and prevent spilling, thereby reducing the damage. However, construction of embankments is to be carried out after proper scientific, morphological and modelling studies of river for identifying changes in river courses, vulnerable locations, rise in afflux due to jacketing etc. State Government of Uttar Pradesh has informed that there is no annual target set by the Irrigation and Water Resources Department for the construction of embankments.
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