NEW DELHI: After the Uttar Pradesh government’s refusal to share the Ganga water for cleaning up the Yamuna, the Centre is reportedly engaging with state officials through bureaucratic channels regarding this matter.
According to sources, Rajeev Kumar Mital, the Director General of the National Mission for Clean Ganga, is currently drafting a proposal to convince the UP government that sharing a certain amount of water with Delhi will not impact the state’s riparian rights.
Additionally, the Centre also has offered to assist UP in covering any extra costs or providing infrastructural support needed for the water sharing.
However, the decision to share Ganga river water with Delhi, at the request of the Central Government, carries political risks, especially as UP will face assembly elections in early 2027.
The proposal emerged after the BJP returned to power in Delhi after 27 years. In the run-up to the polls, PM Narendra Modi had promised to clean the Yamuna river.
To achieve this, the national capital requires additional water to maintain the environmental flow in the Yamuna during the lean season. Currently, the flow of the Yamuna is approximately 0.49 million cubic meters (MCM) per day, which is significantly below the required flow of 0.86 MCM.
This issue was discussed during a high-level meeting in April attended by PM Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, and Delhi’s Chief Secretary Dharmendra.
Following the meeting, a proposal was shared with the UP government outlining how to divert water from the Upper Ganga Canal through its branch channels to Delhi for at least three years. “The Centre has proposed this water-sharing arrangement until the end of 2026, after which Delhi is expected to upgrade its sewage treatment plants (STPs),” said a senior UP government official.