4 years of Modi govt: Cleaning of ‘Holy Ganges’ underway at full swing
Effective management of rivers is vital in India as the agriculture almost entirely depends on rivers. Where on one hand rivers of North India rise from the Himalayan mountain ranges, the river of the south rise from low hills and mostly from the Western Ghats.
The Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation is the apex body for formulation and administration of rules and regulations relating to the development and regulation of the water resources in India.
The Ministry was formed in January 1985 following the bifurcation of the then Ministry of Irrigation and Power, when the Department of Irrigation was re-constituted as the Ministry of Water Resources.
In July 2014, the Ministry was renamed to "Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation", making it the National Ganga River Basin Authority for conservation, development, management, and abatement of pollution in the river Ganges and its tributaries.
Namami Gange Project:
The main aim of the Namami Gange Project, which was launched on July 10, 2014, is to integrate the efforts to clean and protect the Ganga river in a comprehensive manner.
Under
Namami
Gange
program,
a
total
of
187
projects
worth
Rs.16565.34
crore
have
been
sanctioned
for
various
activities
such
as
sewage
infrastructure,
ghats
and
crematoria
development,
river
front
development,
river
surface
cleaning,
institutional
development,
biodiversity
conservation,
afforestation,
rural
sanitation,
and
public
participation.
93 projects out of 187 were sanctioned for creation of 2205.08 MLD new sewage treatment plants (STPs), rehabilitation of 564.3 MLD of existing STPs and laying/rehabilitation of 4762.4km sewer network for abatement of pollution in river Ganga and Yamuna. Till date 13 projects have been completed which has created 198 MLD STP capacity (153 MLD for river Ganga and 45 MLD for Yamuna River) and 1147 km of sewerage network has been laid.
Within
a
year
of
reconstitution
of
NMCG
as
an
Authority
(October
07,2016
to
October
07,
2017),
44
projects
worth
Rs
7,547.87
crore
were
approved
by
the
Executive
Committee.
These
projects
pertain
to
creation
of
adequate
sewage
treatment
capacities
in
Ganga
basin
States
-
Uttarakhand
(17)
Uttar
Pradesh
(10),
Bihar
(11)
Jharkhand
(1)
West
Bengal
(3)
and
Delhi
(2).
Total
STP
capacity
of
1402.26
MLD
will
be
created
with
the
approval
of
these
projects
and
sewer
network
length
of
1429.24
km
will
be
laid
down.
For
abatement
of
industrial
pollution,
survey
of
all
1109
Grossly
Polluting
Industries
(GPIs)
was
conducted.
Out
of
1109
GPIs,
333
were
closed
and
closure
notices
were
given
to
non-complying
GPIs.135
GPIs
have
been
closed
for
non-compliance
to
stipulated
norms.
Eight
Real
Time
Water
Quality
Monitoring
Station
(RTWQMS)
are
operational
under
National
Hydrology
Project.
For
River
Front
Development,
works
at
111
ghats
and
46
crematoria
are
in
progress
and
expected
to
be
completed
by
2018.
For
river
surface
cleaning,
11
trash
skimmers
have
been
deployed
at
Haridwar,
Garh
Mukhteshwar,
Kanpur,
Varanasi,
Allahabad,
Patna,
Sahibganj,
Nabadwip,
Kolkata,
Delhi
and
Mathura-Vrindavan.
On
rural
sanitation
front,
all
4464
villages
on
the
bank
of
river
Ganga
have
been
made
Open
Defecation
Free
(ODF)
and
12,
74,
421
Individual
Household
Toilets
have
been
constructed.Five
State
Ganga
Committees
and
34
District
Ganga
Committees
constituted
for
effective
monitoring
of
projects
and
activities.Against
the
target
of
15.27
lakh
individual
household
latrines,
approx.
10
lakh
individual
household
latrines
have
been
constructed.
Six
public
outreach
programmes
were
organised
in
five
main
stem
Ganga
basin
States.
They
are
Ganga
Swachhta
Pakhwada,
Ganga
Sankalp
Divas,
Ganga
Nirikshan
Yatra,
Ganga
Dusshera,
Ganga
Vriksharopan
Saptah,
and
Swachhta
Hi
Seva
Pakhwada.
The
participation
of
corporates
in
Namami
Gange
programme
grew
stronger
with
successful
completion
of
two
road
shows
-
London
and
Mumbai.
Commitments
of
participation
in
NMCG
activities
have
been
made
by
several
corporates.
Projects
have
also
been
taken
up
for
bio-diversity
conservation,
conservation
of
fish
and
fisheries,
Dolphin
conservation,
afforestation
activities.
Countries like Australia, United Kingdom, Germany, Finland and Israel have shown keen interest in collaborating with the Indian government for river Ganga cleaning. NMCG has signed an MoU with OISCA International, a leading NGO of Japan to collaborate in specific activities for pollution abatement and river rejuvenation.
Water Quality Monitoring:
Based
on
water
quality
monitoring
being
carried
out
at
124
locations
through
manual
as
well
as
sensors
based
real
time
system,
it
has
been
observed
that
water
quality
trend
on
tributaries
of
Ramganga
river
viz.,
Bahela,
Dahela,
Kosi
and
Ramganga
itself
before
its
confluence
with
Ganga
has
shown
improvements
during
the
last
two
years.
Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojna (PMKSY):
This programme has been formulated by amalgamating ongoing schemes viz. Accelerated Irrigation Benefit Programme (AIBP) of the Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation (MoWR,RD&GR), Integrated Watershed Management Programme (IWMP) of Department of Land Resources (DoLR) and the On Farm Water Management (OFWM) of Department of Agriculture and Cooperation (DAC).
PMKSY was launched with an aim to enhance physical access of water on farm and expand cultivable area under assured irrigation, improve on farm water use efficiency, introduce sustainable water conservation practices.
Under PMKSY, Ninety Nine (99) ongoing AIBP projects along with their Command Area Development & Water Management (CADWM) works, having potential of 76.03 lakh ha. and estimated cost of Rs. 77595 cr, . have been identified for completion in phases up to December, 2019. Funding mechanism through NABARD has been made by the Government for both central and state share for timely completion of 99 prioritized projects.
A
Long
Term
Irrigation
Fund
has
been
created
under
NABARD
for
PMKSY
(AIBP)
projects.
The
Government
on
16.08.2017
approved
the
proposal
for
raising
zero
cost
bonds
up
to
₹
9,020
crore
during
FY
2017-18
for
keeping
interest
rate
@
6%.
During
2017-18,
CA
of
₹
1,720.68
crore
has
been
sanctioned
for
release
through
NABARD
for
AIBP
&
Command
Area
Development
works.
Further,
State
share
of
₹
3,390.37
crore
for
prioritised
projects
has
been
released
through
NABARD.
In
addition,
an
amount
of
₹
1,297.58
crore
has
been
sanctioned
for
release
through
NABARD
for
Polavaram
Project
of
Andhra
Pradesh
during
the
year.
National Aquifer Mapping and Management Programme (NAQUIM):
The main aim this program is to delineate and characterize aquifers for quantification of ground water availability and assessment of ground water quality to formulate aquifer management plans for facilitating sustainable management of ground water resources at regional and local levels.
Under the program, 7.99 Lakh km2 area has been covered so far against total target of about 13 lakh SQ Km till March, 2020. Aquifer maps and management plans being prepared by CGWB are shared with the State Agencies for implementation. Implementation of the management plans by the State agencies is expected to improve the groundwater situation.
Work done under National Aquifer Mapping Program has been utilized for following successful activities which will reduce dependence on monsoon:
- Project on Tapi Mega Recharge has been initiated as an outcome of Aquifer mapping study. This project envisages to recharge ground water to the tune of 358.92 million m3/ year benefiting an area of 2.3 lakh hectare.
- Multi layered aquifers identified in intensely irrigated water stressed areas of Haryana. Managed Aquifer Recharge plans for Chhatarpur Basin in Delhi has been prepared.
- Govt of Kerala has initiated preparation of Panchayat Water Security Plans from NAQUIM outputs.
- Successful wells (18 nos) were drilled in water scarce villages in Tikamgarh district of Bundelkhand region for State PHED.
- In Latur, Maharastra, 25 wells drilled for drought mitigation in Year 2016 and handed over to state agency for water supply
National Hydrology Project (NHP):
The
main
objective
of
the
NHP
is
to
improve
the
extent,
quality,
and
accessibility
of
water
resources
information,
decision
support
system
for
floods
and
basin
level
resource
assessment/planning
and
to
strengthen
the
capacity
of
targeted
water
resources
professionals
and
management
institutions
in
India.
Under National Hydrology Project, it proposed to establish National Water Informatics Centre (NWIC) as a repository of nation-wide water resource data. This data will be utilised for various applications such as development of decision support system, integrated reservoir operation, flood forecasting including inundation forecasting, Basin Modelling and development of Water Resources Management plans with aims to achieve the objective of Ensuring Water Security and disaster management.
National
Hydrology
Project
(NHP)
has
been
taken
up
with
the
assistance
of
World
Bank
with
total
outlay
of
Rs.3679.7674
crore.
NHP
is
a
Central
Sector
Scheme,
with
100%
grant
to
the
States
with
World
Bank
Assistance
to
the
tune
of
50%
of
the
project
cost.
It
has
pan
India
coverage
with
49
Implementing
Agencies
(IAs)
(including
10
from
Central
Government
and
39
from
States).
The
project
has
a
total
duration
of
eight
years
from
2016-17
to
2023-24.
Status of Interlinking of Rivers
In
compliance
to
the
direction
of
Union
Cabinet,
MoWR,
RD
GR
vide
O.M.
dated
13th
April,
2015
has
constituted
a
Task
Force
for
Interlinking
of
Rivers
(TF-ILR)
under
the
Chairmanship
of
Shri
B.N.
Navalawala,
Chief
Advisor,
MoWR,
RD&GR.
So
far,
eight
(8)
meetings
of
the
TF-ILR
has
been
held
and
the
last
meeting
was
held
on
15.09.2017.
TF-ILR
on
18.07.2016
has
constituted
a
Group
to
look
into
legal
aspects
and
required
enabling
provisions
for
implementation
of
Interlinking
of
Rivers
and
other
related
issues.
The
legal
group
has
completed
its
assigned
task
and
submitted
its
report
to
the
Chairman,
TF-ILR
on
17th
March
2017.
In
addition,
a
Group
for
Financial
Aspects
under
TF-ILR
was
also
constituted
on
12.09.2017
to
consider
the
financial
aspects
of
ILR
projects
and
to
suggest
the
funding
pattern
for
implementing
the
same.
Three
meetings
of
the
Group
were
held
so
far
and
the
last
meeting
was
held
on
08.12.2017.
Four priority links under Peninsular Rivers Component have been identified for preparation of Detailed Project Reports (DPR) viz; Ken-Betwa link project (KBLP), Damanganga-Pinjal link project, Par-Tapi-Narmada link project and Mahanadi-Godavari link project. The preparation of DPR of a project is taken up only after consent of concerned State Governments. Based on the concurrence of the concerned States, DPRs of KBLP, Damanganga-Pinjal link project and Par-Tapi-Narmada link project have been completed.