 New Delhi : In a boost to the Ganga cleaning programme, the government has cleared projects worth Rs 1,394.11 crore for the states of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal and Uttarakhand.
While the Union government had allocated Rs 500 crore for the 2010-11 fiscal, the empowered steering committee of the National Ganga River Basin Authority (NGRBA) as part of the first phase of the project has provided Rs 800 crore to Uttar Pradesh, Rs 440 crore to Bihar, Rs 105 crore to West Bengal and Rs 45 crore to Uttarakhand. The money will be spent by the states on projects that include development of sewer networks, sewage treatment plants and sewage pumping stations, electric crematoria, community toilets, development of river-fronts, resuscitation of canals, and public campaigns.
Union environment and forest minister Jairam Ramesh said, "In addition to these measures, we are negotiating a major loan of about US $1 billion with the World Bank for Ganga cleaning, which is progressing on track." The first meeting of NGRBA was held on October 5, last year, with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh as chair at which it was decided that no untreated municipal sewage and industrial effluents would be allowed to flow into the Ganga by the year 2020.
In December 2009, the authority created the empowered steering committee with the environment and forests secretary as chair to sanction projects. The committee includes members representing other Union ministries, Central Pollution Control Board, Central Water Commission and the states concerned. Ramesh said, "These measures signify the importance and urgency that we are placing on the river Ganga, which has such an important place in our culture, and which is so central to the livelihoods of millions of our people."
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