Rs 552-crore Japanese loan for cleaning Ganga in Varanasi

New Delhi, May 22 (UNI) The Centre has finalised an agreement for Rs 552-crore loan from the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) for cleaning Ganga water in the holy city of Varanasi.

On top of this amount, the Central Government has sought another Rs 1100 crore from the JBIC for cleaning river waters at Lucknow, Kanpur and Allahabad.

This was stated by Minister for State for Environment and Forests Namo Narain Meena in his reply to a half-hour discussion on pollution in Ganga in the Rajya Sabha today.

He said the procedure for the Cabinet approval for the Rs 552-crore JBIC loan is under way and the work for cleaning the Ganga water in Varanasi is likely to start by the end of the current financial year.

He said a total of 187 grossly polluting industries were identified along the course of Ganga which pollute the river. Of these, 112 have installed effluent treatment plants while remaining units have closed down.

The discussion was raised by Samajwadi Party member Kamal Akhtar who insisted that a few units near Gajraula are still polluting the river Ganga.

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