Expenditure on Cleaning of Ganga
Ministry of Environment & Forests (MoEF) have informed that Ganga Action Plan (GAP) Phase-I was launched as a centrally funded scheme in 1985 and later GAP Phase-II was initiated in 1993 with the objective of improving the water quality of river Ganga. Under both phases of GAP, a total of 83 sewage treatment plants (STP) including 2 common effluent treatment plants (CETPs) have been sanctioned for undertaking pollution abatement activities in the identified polluted stretches of the river Ganga, of which 69 treatment plants with a capacity to treat 1098 million litres per day (mld) – GAP-I: 869 mld, GAP-II: 229 mld have been established. The total expenditure so far, incurred on conservation of river Ganga under the GAP Phase – I & II is Rs.986.34 crore as on 31st March, 2014.
In 2009, ‘National Ganga River Basin Authority’ (NGRBA) was setup for pollution control in river Ganga.The works under NGRBA Programme include laying of sewerage system, sewage treatment plants, solid waste management, common effluent treatment plant (CETP) for controlling industrial pollution, river front management, crematoria etc. So far, 70 schemes in 48 towns in five Ganga States and 6 institutional development projects including Automatic Water Quality Monitoring and Ganga Knowledge Center have been sanctioned at a total cost of Rs. 5004.19 crore under the programme. An amount of Rs. 1229.87 crore has been released from centre and state, of which Central Government’s share is Rs. 912.52 crore and State Governments share Rs. 317.35 crore. An expenditure of Rs. 838.76 crore has been reported till March, 2014 for implementation of the projects. Treatment capacity of 589.93 mld shall be created on implementation of these projects, of which 110.50 mld has been created so far.
Under both, GAP Phase-I & Phase – II (on main stem and under Hon’ble Supreme Court’s directions) and NGRBA, an expenditure of Rs. 1825.10 crore has been incurred by five basin States on the main stem of river Ganga. A total treatment capacity of 1208.50 mld(ST – 1188.50 mld, CETP – 20 mld) has been created under GAP and NGRBA till June, 2014.
This was stated by Union Minister of State for Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation Shri Santosh Kumar Gangwar in a written reply in Rajya Sabha today.