NEW DELHI: Eyeing the 2019 general elections, the Centre has set a new deadline of March 2019 for cleaning the Ganga. Acknowledging delays, Union water resources minister Nitin Gadkari on Thursday announced that efforts were on to clean 70-80 per cent of the river by March 2019.
The Centre has decided to renew its efforts in the last year before the general elections as there have been no visible results of the cleaning of the river in the last four years.
“There have been delays on the part of state governments. Slow tendering processes and other issues remain, but efforts are being made to clean the river. We are hopeful that 70-80 per cent of the river will be cleaned by March 2019,” Gadkari said while briefing media persons about the progress made so far.
Cleaning the Ganga was part of the BJP’s election manifesto in 2014, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi had promised the same during his election campaign in his constituency Varanasi during the Lok Sabha elections.
Gadkari said that less than 20 per cent of the funds allocated for projects related to Ganga cleaning, such as on sewage treatment plants and construction of ghats and crematoriums, had been spent in each of the last four years, but added that utilisation of the funds would pick up this year.
The Centre had sanctioned Rs 20,000 crore for Ganga Mission in 2015 for a period of five years.
“Under the Namami Gange programme, a total of 195 projects worth Rs 20,959 crore have been sanctioned for various activities. The new initiative amounts to Rs 12,728 crore, with 100 per cent Central assistance,” he said.
For riverfront development, work at 151 ghats and 54 crematoria is in progress and is expected to be completed this year at an estimated cost of Rs 721.94 crore.
Reiterating the Centre’s commitment to cleaning the river, Gadkari said that of the 1,109 grossly polluting industries along the river, 358 units had been closed. These include distilleries, sugar factories, paper mills and tanneries.
“The condition of pollution in the river is improving at many places in five states. But it is not 100 per cent, and we will make efforts to achieve it,” he added.