Clean up Ganga: Govt may miss 2020 deadline, says panel
The panel also suggested that the government deploy Territorial Army battalions for conserving river Ganga from Uttarkhand to West Bengal.
The slow pace at which the operation to clean up river Ganga has been pointed out to by a parliamentary panel. The panel says that the government may miss the 2020 deadline to clean up Ganga.
The Standing Committee on Water Resources, in its Demand for Grants (2017-18) for Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation, asked the ministry to fast track the projects to ensure expeditious cleaning of the river.
The committee, in the report tabled in Parliament on Thursday, noted "with utmost concern" that so far only four sewage treatment plant (STP) projects -- two at Haridwar, one each at Varanasi and Mathura -- have been taken up.
It
also
noted
that
few
more
projects
are
expected
to
be
taken
up
under
hybrid
annuity-based
Public
Private
Partnership
(PPP)
model.
In
this
model,
a
part
of
the
capital
investment
is
paid
by
the
government
through
construction-linked
milestones
and
the
balance
through
an
annuity
over
the
contract
duration.
"Keeping in view the slow pace of work, the committee are constrained to believe that the targeted completion of cleaning of Ganga river by December 2020 may remain unaccomplished," the panel said.
It also asked the ministry to apprise of the details of the total expenditure incurred by the National Mission for Clean Ganga so far and outcome achieved thereby.
Deploy territorial army
The panel also suggested that the government deploy Territorial Army battalions for conserving river Ganga from Uttarkhand to West Bengal.
In its report on 'Resettlement of Ex-Servicemen' the Parliamenary Standing Committee on Defence, stressed on the need to physically ensure protection of "revered" Ganga on its entire course.
"Nothing could be more efficient than the TA battalions raised for the protection of Ganga be deployed from Shivpuri in Uttarkhand to Ganga Sagar (in West Bengal)," the panel said.
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