Another deadline! Clean Ganga by 2022

Speaking to ETV Bharat, Director General of Clean Ganga Mission Rajeev Ranjan Mishra said that most of the 'Clean Ganga' related projects are likely to be completed by 2022, a deadline extended by two years. He said, "projects in Uttarakhand and Jharkhand are on the verge of completion. However, in Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, and Bengal it may take at least two years from now."

New Delhi:The National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) has set a fresh deadline to make India's national river clean. Director General of Clean Ganga Mission Rajeev Ranjan Mishra revealed that Ganga will be cleaned by 2022, a deadline extended by two years.

"By 2022 all the projects of clean Ganga mission will be completed. Projects in Uttarakhand and Jharkhand are on the verge of completion. However, in Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, and Bengal it may take at least two years from now," said Mishra in an exclusive interview to ETV Bharat.

The statement given by the Director General of India's exclusive Clean Ganga Mission assumes much more significance as this deadline to make Ganga clean has now been extended for the third consecutive time.

When the Clean Ganga Mission had a fresh start in 2015 under the name of 'Namami Gange' with a Rs 20,000 crore estimate, it was expected that the mission will be completed by 2019. However, it was later extended until 2020.

"It's a huge project. it's not that it will be completed in five years...it takes time, though, we are trying to complete the mission at the earliest," said Mishra, who has been assigned with India's biggest ever initiative to make Ganga clean.

However, to clean Ganga began with the Ganga Action Plan I dated back to 1986. Till 2014, more than Rs 4,000 crore has been spent, but India's national river remains dirty.

To add more strength to the mission, the National Ganga Council (NGC) was created by replacing the National Ganga River Basin Authority (NGRBA). Chief Ministers of five Ganga basin states- Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, and West Bengal have been made members of the NGC.

Director General Mishra said that the project has been able to achieve remarkable breakthroughs.

"Progress is well. In terms of projects, we now have 150 sewerage sector projects from the previous 28, when the mission had started. Out of these 45 projects have been completed and 20 will be completed in the next few months," he said.

"We now know the challenges and accordingly we are taking steps. We understood the importance of private partnership and people's participation which is why we are trying to encourage both," added Mishra.

He admitted that the growing population and untreated sewerage are the major reasons behind the river pollution.
" With a broad futuristic requirement of 2035, we have been setting up sewerage treatment plants with the latest technologies," said Mishra.

He termed industrial pollution as another big reason for polluted Ganga.

"We are creating ETPs with the latest technologies," he said.

The clean Ganga mission department has initiated the process of upgrading existing Sewerage Treatment Plants (STP) and Effluent Treatment Plants (ETP).

Significantly, the National Mission for Clean Ganga along with Central Water Commission has issued a notice to several hydropower projects across India to monitor the environmental and ecological flow of the rivers.

"Maintaining river flow is very much important to ensure that a minimum amount of water flows during all seasons," said Mishra.

The NMCG has also taken the task of cleaning the Yamuna as well.

"The Yamuna in other states is partially clean but the part that flows through Delhi is polluted so we are taking support from all stakeholders to make it clean," Mishra said.

He informed that with the help of the Delhi Development Authority (DDA), a biodiversity park will be developed along the Yamuna in this regard.