NEW DELHI:As the NDA government completes one year in May, Prime Minister Narendra Modi seems to be under pressure to showcase the achievements of his pet ‘Namami Gange’ project. While there has been little progress so far, top officials in the water ministry have come up with a Rs 200-crore quick-fix solution. The government is now exploring bio-remediation solution to control pollution in the Ganga even as the wait for the Sewage Treatment Plants (STPs) along the river continues.
The Ganga cleaning project was announced as a showcase project by the Central government last year, but nothing much seems to have happened on the ground. The Prime Minister’s Office now wants the National Mission on Clean Ganga (NMCG) officials to work out deliverables, which would be visible on the ground.
According to sources, Prime Minister Narendra Modi was quite unhappy with the progress made in cleaning Ganga in the last nine months. His displeasure was evident in the removal of NMCG Mission Director R R Mishra earlier this week. A Haryana-cadre IAS officer, TVSN Prasad, is now the new head. A high-level task force has been formed by cabinet secretariat to coordinate inter-ministerial Ganga-related work.
The water ministry has prepared a Rs 200-crore quick-fix plan to focus on works, which will be visible on the ground within the next five to six months. These include using bio-remedies to treat open drains falling into the river while major work like STP will continue happening in the background. Pollution monitoring will be strengthened in a big way so that polluting industry can be penalized. Also in the works is a wide publicity campaign of work done on Ganga through advertisements and other multimedia. In fact, the PMO has also asked NMCG to keep it posted on the specific action being taken for popularizing Ganga cleaning. Professional agencies have been hired to prepare a detailed publicity strategy in India and overseas.
“There is perceived non-delivery on the ground and people were generally feeling that there is nothing much happening on ground. Ultimately, you are expected to act and show. Following directive from the PMO, now the efforts are to do works which can be traced on ground soon,” said a source in the ministry, adding that these quick fixes are non-capital intensive and will be seen sooner on the ground.
An earlier plan by the environment ministry to use bio-remediation for cleaning the holy river failed, but the water ministry differs saying the method they plan to use has been tested by the National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI).
“Second, the ministry is going to quickly start pollution monitoring. For instance, there are 144 drains falling in river Ganga and all these will be exit monitored. We have also sought ISRO’s help to get geospatial data,” said the source.
Progress has also been slow on donations coming for Ganga cleaning and the government is now proposing to create local funds abroad, which would give tax exemption to Indians settled outside India if they donate for Ganga.
“If people give money to charity they expect some exemptions and now those exemptions are governed by local laws. So at present if an NRI donates from USA then he/she would not be eligible for exemption. So plans are to create local funds in those countries which would then be authorized to transfer funds to India,” said another official, adding that the final structure of local funds will be finalized soon.
According to the government, the total expenditure incurred so far on conservation of river Ganga under the Ganga Action Plan Phase- I & II is Rs 986.34 crore as on March 2014. But a parliamentary standing committee had put the money at Rs 40,000 crore. The money seems to have gone down the drain with the river getting more polluted in last two decades mainly due to the non-implementation of the Action Plan and poor monitoring.
Down the river
100% tax deduction for Clean Ganga Fund
Allocation: Rs 2,100 crore for 2015-16
Money Spent on Ganga So Far
Govt Figures: Rs 986.34 crore
Parliamentary Standing Committee: Rs 40,000 crore
New estimates for sewer network: Rs 50,000 crore
New Quick-Fix Plan: Rs 200 crore