Namami Gange

Namami Gange
What is Namami Gange? Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on 10th July 2014 announced an integrated development project for the Ganga river titled 'Namami Gange' ('Obeisance to the Ganges river') and allocated rupees 2,037 crore for this purpose in the budget. It is a project which integrates the efforts to clean and protect the Ganga River in a comprehensive way. The Government of India ordered the shut down of 48 industrial units around the Ganga river as part of the project. What are the objectives of the program? The objectives of the program include effective check on pollution, focus on conservation and rejuvenation of the Ganga river. Focus would be on intercepting and diverting the waste and treating of the waste through bio-remediation, in-situ treatment, use of innovative technologies and sewage treatment plants (STPs) as well as effluent treatment plant (ETPs). The project also focuses on the rehabilitation of existing STPs. Eight states through which the river flows are covered under this project. The Department of Drinking Water Supply and Sanitation had proposed to make 1,674 village panchayats by the river defecation-free by the year 2022, at a cost of Rs 1,700 crore. Rs 2,958 Crores have been spent as of July 2016 in various efforts in cleaning up the river as part of Namami Gange. What are the main pillars of the project? •Sewerage Treatment Infrastructure •River-Front Development •River-Surface Cleaning •Enhancing Bio-Diversity •Afforestation •Public Awareness •Industrial Effluent Monitoring •Ganga Gram The implementation of the project has been divided into Entry-Level Activities (for immediate visible impact), Medium-Term Activities (to be implemented within 5 years of time frame) and Long-Term Activities (to be implemented within 10 years), for greater efficiency. What are the main achievements under the project? The key achievements under Namami Gange are: •Sewerage Treatment Capacity- 63 sewerage management projects are under implementation in Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, and West Bengal. 12 new sewerage management projects have been launched in these states. •Creating River-Front Development- 28 River-Front Development projects and 33 Entry-level Projects for construction, modernization and renovation of over 150 ghats and over 100 crematoria have been initiated. •River Surface Cleaning- Collection of floating solid waste from the surface of the banks and River and their safe disposal is underway in more than 11 locations. •Conservation of biodiversity- Biodiversity Conservation and Ganga Rejuvenation, Fish and Fishery Conservation in Ganga River, Ganges River Dolphin Conservation Education Programme and numerous other programs have been initiated for conserving biodiversity. •Afforestation- Increasing forest cover in areas adjacent to the river to increase biodiversity and help in precipitation is underway in areas such as Dehradun. •Public Awareness- Activities such as events, workshops, seminars, and conferences have been organized to make a strong case for public outreach and community participation in the programme. Social media sites were used to propagate the mission and encourage public participation. •Industrial Effluent Monitoring- Effluent Monitoring Stations (EMS) have been installed in 572 out of 760 Grossly Polluting Industries (GPIs). Other industries have been given warnings to comply with the demands. •Ganga Gram- The Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation (MoDWS) has identified 1674 village Panchayats situated on the bank of River Ganga in five states. Rs. 578 Crores has been released to Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation (MoDWS) for constructing toilets in these areas. 7 IITs have been engaged in the preparation of the Ganga River Basin Plan and 65 villages have been adopted by 13 IITs to develop as model villages. How will the project be funded? Namami Gange has a budget outlay of Rs. 20,000 crore till 2019. The Central Government overlooks the funding of various activities/ projects under this program. The government provides for the operation and maintenance of the assets for a minimum 10-year period and has adopted a more stringent outlook towards controlling pollution hotspots. The government had planned to form a four-battalion Ganga Eco-Task Force for greater implementation of the project, which would also increase co-operation and co-ordination between various ministries involved with the project such as Urban Development, Drinking Water & Sanitation, Environment Forests & Climate Change, and so on. The socio-economic benefits that the program is expected to deliver in terms of job creation, improved livelihoods and health benefits to the vast population that is dependent on the river makes it a crucial project to the government. On 20th Match 2017, a judgment by the Uttarakhand High Court gave Ganga the status of the “first living entity of India”, thus by giving the river the rights of a living person, the court order is expected to go a long way in cleaning up the Ganga and helping the Namami Gange project.
Source: https://nmcg.nic.in/logo.aspx



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