Government presents detailed blueprint of Ganga cleaning to Supreme Court

After being rebuked by Supreme Court which pulled up the central government stating that going by present ways "Ganga will not be cleaned after 200 years", the central government has now formed a "three phase plan" to rejuvenate Ganga that has short term (3 years), medium term (5 years) and long term (10 years) goals.

The central government's affidavit filed in SC revealed that, in a meeting with union urban development ministry, earlier this month, 118 towns were tentatively identified for extending sewerage infrastructure including waste water treatment and solid waste management. The cost of this project is pegged at around Rs 51,000 crores.

Other major steps for cleaning Ganga about which government informed the apex court were union drinking water and sanitation ministry's scheme for making all 1649 Gram Panchayats on Ganga banks open defection free and environment ministry's plan to enforce zero liquid discharge by grossly pollution industries located in Ganga basin states.

Rajeev Ranjan Mishra, who is the Mission director for the National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG), in his affidavit to SC stated that these goals are envisaged after "consulting five Ganga basin states – Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal -- who are primarily responsible for implementation of various projects for rejuvenation of Ganga".

To control pollution and to contain it to manageable limits, the government in affidavit said, that they have identified activities like rehabilitation and upgradation of existing sewage treatment plants along Ganga, ensuring 100% sewerage infrastructure in identified towns alongside Ganga, in-situ sewage treatment in open drains, river front management for ghat's developments in selected cities and towns, industrial pollution abatement in Kanpur and other cities.

As per the affidavit, so far seven river front locations for development of ghats at Kedarnath, Haridwar, Varanasi, Kanpur, Allahabad, Patna and Delhi.

The government has also zeroed on projects like an action plan for public amenities, waste disposal and sanitation in Char Dham Yatra , capacity building of urban local bodies, afforestation, conservation of aquatic life, safe disposal of flowers and Puja material, guidelines for sand mining in Ganga, spatial analysis for Ganga basin among other things. Host of communication and public outreach activities are also on cards.

The government informed the court that all these activities would be carried out by respective state governments and this decision was taken in a meeting chaired by Ganga Rejuvenation minister Uma Bharti on 3 September earlier this month.

For instance, Uma Bharti has already asked Uttarakhand government to submit proposals for making provisions of public amenities, solid and liquid waste disposal and sanitation facilities for pilgrims and tourists.

It was on 3 September only when SC had said that going by government plan it looked as if Ganga will not be cleaned in next 200 years. The court had then asked government to come up with stage-wise and specific plan.

The government informed the court that following this meeting West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh government has already informed them about follow up action.

As per the affidavit, Uma Bharti, who is the minister in-charge for Ganga's rejuvenation, has asked the environment ministry to take action for preserving biodiversity and improve guidelines related to sand mining in Ganga.

The government, however, in its affidavit clearly said that success of their plan regarding Cleaning of Ganga would depend on participation and co-operation of all stakeholders including people at large.

"Any plan made for it may need to undergo mid-course correction depending on the changing need and circumstances which may not be foreseeable now," added the central government.