Namami Ganga Yojana

The Namami Ganga Yojana aims to clean and protect the Ganga River. Namami Ganga Yojana is an ambitious Union Government Project which integrates the efforts to clean and protect the Ganga River in a comprehensive manner. Its maiden budget, the government announced Rs. 2037 Crore towards this mission. The project is officially known as Integrated Ganga Conservation Mission project or ‘Namami Ganga Yojana. ‘Namami Gange’ will focus on pollution abatement interventions namely Interception, diversion & treatment of wastewater flowing through the open drains through bio-remediation / appropriate in-situ treatment / use of innovative technologies / sewage treatment plants (STP) / effluent treatment plant (ETP), rehabilitation and augmentation of existing STP and immediate short-term measures for arresting pollution at exit points on riverfront to prevent inflow of sewage etc

Objectives:

• Main focus to clean Ganga and protect it from industrial pollution and other waste things
• Prime focus will be on involving people living on the river’s banks in this project
• Will cover 8 states, 47 towns & 12 rivers under the project
• Over 1,632-gram Panchayat on the banks of Ganga to be made open defecation-free by 2022
• Expansion of coverage of sewerage infrastructure in 118 urban habitations on banks of Ganga
• Introducing PPP approach for pollution control
• Introduction of 4-battalion of territorial army Ganga eco-task force
• Treatment of wastewater in drains by applying bio-remediation method
• Treatment of wastewater by the use of innovative technologies
• Promotion of Tourism and Shipping in a rational and sustainable manner
• Improving River and forest ecosystem

Implementation:

1. The implementation of the program has been divided into entry-level activities for immediate visible impact, medium-term activities to be implemented within 5 years of time frame, long-term activities to be implemented within 10 years
2. Entry-level activities includes river surface cleaning to address the floating solid wastes, rural sanitation to arrest the pollution solid & liquid entering through rural sewage drains and construction of toilets, renovation, modernization, & construction of crematoria that prevents the disposal of un-burnt/ partially burnt bodies in the river, repair, modernization & construction of Ghats to improvise the human-river connect
3. Medium-term activities will focus on arresting the municipal and industrial pollution entering into the river. To address the pollution through municipal sewage, 2500 MLD additional treatment capacity is to be created in next 5 years
4. Various departments are set up for implementation of Namami Gange Project like National Ganga Monitoring Centre and other departments which will be responsible for implementation of the project
5. Several ministries are working with nodal Water Resources Ministry for this project includes Environment, Urban Development, Shipping, Tourism & Rural Development Ministries

References & details:

1. For more details regarding documents and other help please visit official website: http://nmcg.nic.in
2. http://nmcg.nic.in/pdf/AuthorityNotification.pdf
3. http://nmcg.nic.in/pdf/GANGAACTIONPLANPHASE.pdf