THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR JAL SHAKTI & SOCIAL JUSTICE AND EMPOWERMENT
(SHRI RATTAN LAL KATARIA)
(a) Cleaning of river is a continuous process and the Government of India is supplementing the efforts of the State Governments in addressing the challenges of pollution of river Ganga by providing financial and technical assistance.
Under Namami Gange Programme, diverse set of interventions for cleaning and rejuvenation of river Ganga have been taken up. These include pollution abatement activities including sewage, industrial effluent, solid waste etc., river front management, aviraldhara, rural sanitation, afforestation, biodiversity conservation, public participation along with the initiatives taken by Government towards Aviralta (continuous flow) of river Ganga.
A total of 305 projects have so far been sanctioned at an estimated cost of Rs. 28,613.75 Crore, out of which 109 projects have been completed and rest of the projects are at various stages of implementation.
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(b) The National Mission for Clean Ganga organised a River Rafting and Kayaking Expedition named ‘Ganga Aamantran’ from Devprayag to Gangasagar. aimed at creating awareness about Ganga Rejuvenation and Water Conservation. The expedition also drew attention to the ecological challenges being faced by Ganga during its journey over the ?ve Ganga basin states i.e. Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Bihar and West Bengal, with 34 halt at locations including Rishikesh, Haridwar, Kanpur, Prayagraj, Varanasi, Patna, and Kolkata.
(c) The team, during the expedition, took up public awareness campaigns on the various locations at which they stopped. They organised mass cleaning drives on Ghats and streets, interacted with students of the village/city and spread the message of river conservation. These public participation programmes were duly supported by local organisations. Several cultural programmes, rallies were organised involving youths, students and general public.
(d) There are no funds earmarked specifically for this purpose. The funds have been allocated by the respective SPMG and NMCG for the expedition. An amount of
Rs.8,80,150/- was allocated to the expedition team. However, NMCG, district and state authorities organised reception and logistic arrangements as part of normal public outreach programmes.
All the five Ganga main stem States namely Uttrakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal have been covered during this expedition.
(e) This was the longest rafting expedition on Ganga in terms of total length covering over 2,500 kms and one of the biggest social campaigns in the world through an adventure sporting event and the message touched large number of people all the way through direct and indirect contacts.
The expedition concluded successfully achieving the intended objectives in large measures. The response of the local population and specially students throughout the expedition was very encouraging which was one of the principal objectives of the expedition.
(f) NMCG is committed to make Ganga Cleaning Programme a People’s Movement and towards this goal, it organises several public outreach programmes to connect with people and directly carry messages to them. Some of the interventions are mass cleaning drives, ghat cleaning drives, organising campaigns, putting up exhibitions, conducting quiz and other competitions etc.
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