Namami Gange Programme:  Announced In  June 2014

Namami Gange Programme is an Integrated Conservation Mission, approved as a ‘Flagship Program’ by the Union Government in June 2014 with a budget outlay of Rs.20,000 Crore to accomplish the twin objectives of effective abatement of pollution, conservation, and rejuvenation of National River Ganga.

  • The program is implemented by the National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG), and its state counterpart organizations i.e., the State Program Management Group (SPMGs).
  • For the Implementation of this program, the Government focuses on and ensures the involvement of people living on the banks of the river to attain sustainable results.

How “Namami Gange” program works?

In order to implement the “Namami Gange” Program, a three-tier mechanism has been proposed for project monitoring comprising of:

  • A high-level task force chaired by Cabinet Secretary assisted by NMCGat the national level,
  • A state-level committee chaired by Chief Secretary assisted by SPMGat the state level and
  • The district-level committee is chaired by the District Magistrate.

“Namami Gange” is focused 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 (STPs)/effluent treatment plant (ETPs) rehabilitation and augmentation of existing STPs and immediate short-term measures for arresting pollution at exit points on the riverfront to prevent inflow of sewage, etc.

Key facts of Namami Gange Programme:

Namami Gange Programme is an Integrated Conservation Mission, approved as a ‘Flagship Program’ by the Union Government in June 2014 with a budget outlay of Rs.20,000 Crore to accomplish the twin objectives of effective abatement of pollution, conservation, and rejuvenation of National River Ganga.

  • The Namami Gange program is being operated under the Ministry of Jal Shakti with the help of the Department of Water Resources, River Development, and Ganga Rejuvenation.
  • Namami Gange Program is being implemented by the National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG), and its state counterpart organizations i.e., State Program Management Groups (SPMGs).
    • NMCG is the implementation wing of the National Ganga Council (set in 2016; which replaced the National Ganga River Basin Authority – NGRBA).
  • Over Rs. 20,000 crores has been sanctioned in the 2014-2015 budget for the next 5 years. This budget is in non-lapsable Treasury.
  • It Will cover 8 states, 47 towns & 12 rivers under the project.
  • Over 1,632-gram panchayats on the banks of Ganga are to be made open defecation-free by 2022.
  • Under the aegis of the National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) & State Program Management Groups (SPMGs) States Urban Local Bodies and Panchayati Raj institutions will be involved in this project.
  • Expansion of coverage of sewerage infrastructure in 118 urban habitations on banks of the Ganga.
  • The setting river-centric urban planning process to facilitate better citizen connections, through interventions at Ghats and Riverfronts.
  • The prime focus will be on involving people living on the river’s banks in this project.
  • The implementation of the program has been divided into 3 levels.
    • Entry-level activities : (for immediate visible impact): Entry-level activities include 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.
    • Medium-term activities (to be implemented within 5 years of time frame),:  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 the next 5 years.

    • long-term activities (to be implemented within 10 years). : In the long-term, providing adequate flow to the river is envisioned through the determination of e-flow, increased water-use efficiency, and improved efficiency of surface irrigation.

Apart from these activities, biodiversity conservation, afforestation, and water quality monitoring are also being taken up under the program.

Programs for the conservation of key iconic species such as Golden Mahseer, Dolphins, Gharials, Turtles, Otters, etc. have been already initiated.

Similarly, under ‘NamamiGange’ 30,000 hectares of land will be afforested for increased recharge of the aquifers, reduced erosion, and improved health of the river ecosystem.

The afforestation program is set to begin in 2016. Also, comprehensive water quality monitoring will be done with the installation of 113 real-time water quality monitoring stations.

For managing industrial pollution, efforts have been initiated to improvise compliance through better enforcement. Grossly Polluting Industries located along Ganga have been directed to reduce the effluent quality & volume or implement zero-liquid discharge.

Main pillars of the Namami Gange Programme

The main pillars of the Namami Gange Programme are:

  • Sewerage Treatment Infrastructure
  • River-Front Development
  • River-Surface Cleaning
  • Bio-Diversity
  • Afforestation
  • Public Awareness
  • Industrial Effluent Monitoring
  • Ganga Gram

The achievements under the Programme

The key achievements under the Namami Gange program are:-

  1. Creating Sewerage Treatment Capacity:-63 sewerage management projects under implementation in the States of Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, and West Bengal.

12 new sewerage management Projects Launched in these states. Work is under construction for creating a Sewerage capacity of 1187.33 (MLD). Hybrid Annuity PPP Model-based two projects have been initiated for Jagjeetpur, Haridwar, Ramanna, and Varanasi.

        Note :

    • Six mega projects of Sewage Treatment Plants(STP) are constructed at Haridwar, Rishikesh, Muni ki Reti, Chorpani, and
    • All 30 STP projects (100%) are now complete in Uttarakhand for taking care of pollution from 17 Ganga towns near the river Ganga, which is a landmark achievement.
    • The Haridwar-Rishikesh zone contributes about 80% of the wastewater load into the River Ganga.

2. Creating River-Front Development:28 River-Front Development projects and 33 Entry-level Projects for the construction, modernization, and renovation of 182 Ghats and 118 crematoria have been initiated.

3. River Surface Cleaning:River Surface cleaning for collection of floating solid waste from the surface of the Ghats and River and its disposal are afoot and pushed into service at 11 locations.

4. Bio-Diversity Conservation:Several Bio-Diversity conservation projects namely: Biodiversity Conservation and Ganga Rejuvenation, Fish and Fishery Conservation in Ganga River, and Ganges River Dolphin Conservation Education Programme have been initiated.

Five  Bio-Diversity centers at Dehradun, Narora, Allahabad, Varanasi, and Barrackpore have been developed for the restoration of identified priority species.

5. Afforestation:-Forestry interventions for Ganga through the Wildlife Institute of India; Central Inland Fisheries Research Institute and Centre for Environment Education have been initiated.

Forestry intervention work for medicinal plants has been commenced in 7 districts of Uttarakhand.

6. Public Awareness series of activities such as events, workshops, seminars, and conferences, and numerous IEC activities were organized to make a strong pitch for public outreach and community participation in the program.

Various awareness activities through rallies, campaigns, exhibitions, Shram daan, cleanliness drives, competitions, plantation drives, and the development and distribution of resource materials were organized.

For wider publicity, the mass media such as TV/Radio, print media advertisements, advertorials, featured articles, and advertorials were published.

Gange’s Theme song was released widely and played on digital media to enhance the visibility of the program. NMCG ensured presence on Social Media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, etc.

7. Industrial Effluent Monitoring:-The number of Grossly Polluting Industries (GPIs) in April 2019 is 1072. Regulation and enforcement through regular and surprise inspections of GPIs are carried out for compliance verification against stipulated environmental norms.

The GPIs are also inspected on an annual basis for compliance verification of the pollution norms and process modification, wherever required through third-party technical institutes.

The first round of inspection of GPIs by third-party technical institutes has been carried out in 2017.

The second round of inspection of GPIs has been completed in 2018. Out of 961 GPIs inspected in 2018, 636 are complying, 110 are non-complying and 215 are self-closed.

Action has been taken against 110 non-complying GPIs and issued closure directions under Section 5 of the E(P) Act. Online Continuous Effluent Monitoring Stations (OCEMS) connectivity was established to the CPCB server in 885 out of 1072 GPIs.

8. Ganga Gram:-Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation (MoDWS) identified 1674 Gram Panchayats situated on the bank of River Ganga in 5 States (Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal).

Rs. 578 Crores has been released to the Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation (MoDWS) for the construction of toilets in 1674 Gram Panchayats of 5 Ganga Basin States.

Out of the targeted 15, 27,105 units, MoDWS has completed the construction of 8, 53,397 toilets.

A consortium of 7 IITs has been engaged in the preparation of the Ganga River basin Plan and 65 villages have been adopted by 13 IITs to develop as model villages.

UNDP has been engaged as the executing agency for the rural sanitation program and to develop Jharkhand as a model State at an estimated cost of Rs. 127 Crore.

During COP-15 (United Nations Biodiversity Conference) held in Montreal, project Namami Gange has been included in the world’s 10 important initiatives.

Other Activities at the Event

Ganga Avalokan: It is the first museum inaugurated for 

  • The museum is dedicated to showcasing the culture, biodiversity, and rejuvenation activities done in the Ganga River.
  • The museum is located at Chandi Ghat,

Rowing down the Ganges: A book co-published by the National Mission for Clean Ganga & Wildlife Institute of India is also launched.

The logo of Jal Jeevan Mission and ‘Margdarshika for Gram Panchayats and Paani Samitis under Jal Jeevan Mission’ is also unveiled during the event.

“ THE GANGA RIVER IS more than 2500 km long, binds five STATES TOGETHER along its main stem and eleven in her ENTIRE BASIN. “

“The largest river basin in India in terms of the catchment area, which constitutes 27% of the country’s landmass and supports about 47% of its population.”

References : 

https://nmcg.nic.in/NamamiGanga.aspx

https://www.india.gov.in/spotlight/namami-gange-programme#tab=tab-1

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