New Delhi: The government has approved Namami Gange Mission-II with a budgetary outlay of Rs.22,500 crore till 2026, including projects for existing liabilities of Rs.11,225 crore and new projects/interventions of ₹11,275 crore, minister of state for Jal Shakti, Bishweswar Tudu said on Monday.
In a written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha, the minister said that the Namami Gange Programme was launched in June 2014 for a period up to 31 March, 2021 to rejuvenate River Ganga and its tributaries with a budgetary outlay of Rs.20,000 crore.
Tudu added that a total of Rs.14,084.72 crore is released by the Centre to the National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG), from FY 2014-15 till 31 January 2023. “Out of this, Rs.13,607.18 crore is released by NMCG to state governments, state missions for clean Ganga and other agencies for implementation of projects related to Ganga rejuvenation.”
He said that under the programme, a comprehensive set of interventions such as wastewater treatment, solid waste management, river front management (ghats and crematoria development), e-flow, afforestation, biodiversity conservation and public participation are taken up for rejuvenation of river Ganga and its tributaries.
“A total of 409 projects are taken up at an estimated cost of Rs. 32,912.40 crore till 31 December, 2022. Out of this, 232 projects are complete and made operational. Majority of the projects pertain to creation of sewage infrastructure as the untreated domestic/industrial wastewater is the main reason for pollution in the river,” the minister added.
Tudu said that 177 sewerage infrastructure projects are taken up with a cost of Rs. 26,673.06 crore for creation and rehabilitation of 5,269.87 million litres per day (MLD) of Sewage Treatment Plant (STP) capacity and laying of around 5,213.49 km sewerage network. “Among these, 99 sewerage projects are complete, resulting in creation and rehabilitation of 2,043.05 MLD of STP capacity and laying of 4,260.95 km sewerage network. In order to sustain the continued operation of the sewage treatment infrastructure, hybrid annuity-based PPP mode has also been adopted.”
