Government of India is supplementing the efforts of the State Government in addressing the challenges of pollution in river Ganga and its tributaries (including the major tributary Yamuna) by providing financial and technical assistance under Namami Gange Programme. Under this programme, a diverse set of interventions for cleaning and rejuvenation of river Ganga have been taken up including waste water treatment, solid waste management, river front management (ghats and crematoria), maintaining continuous flow, rural sanitation, afforestation, biodiversity conservation and Public Participation etc. For cleaning of Ganga and its tributaries including river Yamuna, Rs.20,000 crore fund has been allocated under Namami Gange Mission (NGM) Phase-I. Considering the need and spread of the Programme, Government of India has further approved Namami Gange Mission –II with a budgetary outlay of Rs.22,500 crore till 2026 inter-alia including projects for existing liabilities (Rs.11,225 Cr.) and new projects/interventions (Rs.11,275 Cr.). Till October 2022, a total of 406 projects have been taken up at a sanctioned cost of Rs.32,898 Crore, out of which, 224 projects have been completed.

As informed by Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), water quality of rivers Ganga, Yamuna and Godavari are being monitored and the board identified the polluted river stretches (PRS) during 2018 based on water quality data for 2016 & 2017. The list of identified PRS on river Ganga, Yamuna and Godavari based on BOD parameter for the year 2018 including BOD value/ range and Priority Class are detailed in Annexure – I.

An expenditure of Rs.1514.7 Cr. has been incurred for cleaning of river Yamuna under Yamuna Action Plan – I & II since 1993 to create STP capacity of 942 MLD along with rehabilitation of 328 MLD STP in the States of Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Delhi and Uttar Pradesh. In addition, under Namami Gange Programme, after 2015 till October 2022, 26 projects have been sanctioned at a cost of Rs. 4438.39 crore for creating / rehabilitation of 1837MLD (STP) capacity in Yamuna basin. These 26 projects are spread in Himachal Pradesh (1 project), Haryana (2 projects), Delhi (11 projects), and Uttar Pradesh (12projects). Out of these 26 projects, 13 projects have already been completed which has created/rehabilitated 583 MLD STP capacity.

Under the Centrally Sponsored Scheme of National River Conservation Plan (NRCP), a total cost of Rs.207.41 crore has been sanctioned for pollution abatement of Godavari River in States of Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Telangana. So far, 10 number of sewage treatment plants (STP) of 185.46 MLD total capacity have been set up in 7 different towns of the aforesaid States namely in Rajamundry town of Andhra Pradesh; in Nanded, Nashik and Trimbakeshwar towns of Maharashtra; and in Badrachalam, Mancherial and Ramagundam towns of Telangana. Currently, one project “Pollution abatement of river Godavari at Rajamahendravaram in Andhra Pradesh” has been sanctioned at the cost of Rs.88.43 crore in March, 2022 for creation of STP of 50 MLD.

Cleaning of river is a continuous process and Government of India is supplementing the efforts of the State Government in addressing the challenges of pollution in river Ganga and its tributary rivers like Yamuna by providing financial and technical assistance under Namami Gange Programme. The improvement of river water quality has started showing results and the sanctioned projects in the NGM-Phase-I have gained their pace after the initial two Covid phases and are expected to get completed within their project specific timeline. Continuous monitoring of the projects is done at various levels by the State Executing Agencies. In addition, regular/periodic review is taken at the level of DG, NMCG and Secretary of Department of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation to expedite the progress of projects including resolving the bottlenecks (like various permissions, land NOC, forest clearance etc.).

Further, for rejuvenation of 351 polluted river stretches including river Ganga, Yamuna and Godavari, action plans were prepared by four-member Committee called “River Rejuvenation Committee’’ (RRC) constituted by the respective State Government/ UT Administration under the overall supervision and coordination of Principal Secretary, Environment of the concerned State /Union Territory. Implementation of time-bound action plans have been assigned to State Government Departments/ UT Administration Departments and they are responsible for rejuvenation of polluted river stretches identified in the respective State/UT under the overall supervision and coordination of Principal Secretary, Environment of the concerned State/Union Territory. Progress of implementation of action plans is reviewed periodically by the RRC at State Level and Central Monitoring Committee (CMC) constituted under the Chairmanship of Secretary, Department of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation at Central Level.

This information was given by the Minister of State for Jal Shakti, Shri Bishweswar Tudu in a written reply in Rajya Sabha today.

ANNEXURE – I

Polluted river stretches identified on river – Ganga, Yamuna and Godavari during 2018

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AS