Question : National River Conservation Plan

(a) whether the National River Conservation Plan (NRCP) is being implemented in 20 States of the country for restoration and conservation of various important rivers and if so, the details thereof and the achievements made so far in this regard; and

(b) whether the River Jhelum in Kashmir is facing a massive threat of degradation which became evident during September 2014 devastating floods and needs immediate measures and funding for restoration and conservation and if so, the action taken in this regard?

MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) FOR ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE (SHRI PRAKASH JAVADEKAR)

(a) It is the responsibility of the State Governments/ concerned local bodies to set up proper facilities for collection, transportation and treatment of sewage being generated and ensure that untreated sewage does not fall into the rivers thereby polluting them. This Ministry has been supplementing the efforts of the State Governments in abatement of pollution in identified stretches of various rivers under National River Conservation Plan (NRCP) and NGRBA (National Ganga River Basin Authority) programmes. Various pollution abatement schemes taken-up under the programmes, inter-alia include interception & diversion of raw sewage, construction of sewerage systems, setting up of sewage treatment plants, low cost sanitation facilities, electric/improved wood crematoria and river front development. The NGRBA programme along with work of Ganga & its tributaries is with Ministry of Water Resources, River Development & Ganga Rejuvenation (MoWR,RD&GR) from 01/08/2014 onwards. The programmes of NRCP & NGRBA (till 01/08/2014) have covered polluted stretches of 43 rivers in 200 towns spread over 21 States at a sanctioned cost of ` 12202.59 crore so far. Sewage treatment capacity of 5169 million litres per day (mld) has been created so far under these two programmes.


(b) The Ministry of Water Resources, River Development & Ganga Rejuvenation has informed that Central assistance of `114.64 crore has been released to the State Government of Jammu & Kashmir for 4 projects for river Jhelum under their FMP (Flood Management Plan) scheme. After the 2014 flood, another flood management project namely ‘Priority works-Comprehensive plan for flood management works on Jhelum, Phase-I’ at an estimated cost of `399.29 crore has been cleared by the Advisory Committee of MoWR,RD&GR in May, 2015. The components of this project include increasing capacity of existing Flood Spill Channel (FSC), increasing drainage capability of Jhelum in the city reach by channelization of the river, removal of garbage dumps, providing retaining wall and toe protection at vulnerable spots, etc.

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