Question : CLEANING OF GANGA

(a) whether the Government proposes to involve private sector for sewage treatment in all 118 towns along the banks of the river Ganga in its bid to clean the Ganga;

(b) if so, the details thereof including the steps taken by the Government in this regard;

(c) whether consortium of Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) has submitted any report to clean the river Ganga;

(d) if so, the details thereof including the recommendations contained in the report and the follow up action taken thereon; and

(e) the action plan of the Government to main- tain uninterrupted flow of river Ganga?

THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR WATER RESOURCES, RIVER DEVELOPMENT AND GANGA REJUVENATION (PROF. SANWAR LAL JAT)

(a) & (b) Sewage treatment projects will be executed in a phased manner in the 118 iden- tified towns along the banks of river Ganga by Ministry of Urban Development (MoUD) and Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation(MoWR, RD & GR). Various modes of execution such as through State and Central agencies, Public Private Partnership (PPP) and Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) modes will be explored as appropriate.

(c) & (d) Yes, Madam. The consortium of Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) has submitted a report titled “Ganga River Basin Management Plan – 2015” (GRBMP-2015) on 31st January, 2015. The report has recommended that the “wholesome- ness of National River Ganga”, is to be viewed from a dynamic prospective. Eight important areas have been identified for carrying out restorative actions in mission mode namely ‘Aviral Dhara’, ‘Nirmal Dhara’, ‘Ecological Restoration’, Sustainable Agriculture’,‘Geolo- gical Safeguarding’, ‘Basin Protection Against Disasters’, ‘River Hazard Management’and ‘Envi- ronmental Knowledge-Building and Sensitization’.

(e) The Government is currently examining the recommendations in the GRBMP-2015 including uninterrupted flow of river Ganga.