The Executive Committee (EC) of the National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) during its 51st meeting approved 7 projects worth around Rs. 285 crore. The meeting was held on 12th October 2023 under the chairmanship of G. Asok Kumar, Director General (DG) of NMCG.
Note: The 50th meeting of the EC of NMCG was held on 31 July 2023 through hybrid mode.
Key People:
The meeting was attended by S.P. Vashishtha, Executive Director (ED) (Admin.), NMCG; Bhaskar Dasgupta, ED (Finance), NMCG; D.P. Mathuria, ED (Technical), NMCG; Naveen Srivastava, Deputy DG, NMCG and Ms. Richa Misra, Joint Secretary and Financial Advisor, Department of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation, Ministry of Jal Shakti.
Approved Projects:
For sewerage management:
The committee has approved 3 projects for sewerage management: 2 in West Bengal and 1 in Uttarakhand.
West Bengal:
The project in West Bengal includes, a 13.8 Minimal Liquid Discharge (MLD) Sewage Treatment Plant (STP) with co-treatment of 18.52 Kilo Litres per Day (KLD) septage and associated works at an estimated cost of Rs 92.83 crore.
- The project aims to prevent the untreated discharge into River Jalangi in Krishnanagar Municipal Town of West Bengal.
The other project aims to integrated Septage Management for Bansberia Municipality by creating a 15 KLD capacity Faecal Sludge Treatment Plant (FSTP).
Uttarakhand:
For Uttarakhand, an FSTP of 50 KLD was approved in Bahadrabad, Haridwar at a total cost of Rs. 12.65 crore.
Ganga Task Force (GTF):
The EC also approved the extension of the Composite Ecological Task Force (Ganga Task Force (GTF)) to continue assisting in the rejuvenation of River Ganga.
- The EC also approved one company of Territorial Army to GTF to facilitate the rejuvenation of River Gomti, a vital tributary of the Ganga.
- The total cost of the project is Rs 134.86 crore.
Note: The GTF would carry out activities such as afforestation, patrolling of sensitive river areas for biodiversity protection, patrolling along river banks by boats and on foot, and so on.
For wetland conservation:
EC also approved the proposal expecting for the effective management of 3 wetlands in Uttar Pradesh (UP) namely Kalewala Jheel in Muzaffarnagar, Numaiya Dahi Jheel (Kheduva Taal) in Prayagraj, and Dahtal Reoti wetland (DRW) in Ballia District.
- These proposals aim to integrate biological diversity and ecosystem service values in river basin conservation and developmental planning of these important wetlands.
- The project includes maintaining hydrological connectivity with the wetland catchment, promoting good agricultural practices, and maintaining the naturalness of shorelines, among others.
- It also enhances awareness of wetlands biodiversity and ecosystem services amongst stakeholders and promotes local stakeholder participation in wetlands management.
Other Approvals:
i.The EC also extended the project “Fish stock enhancement including Hilsa and livelihood improvement for sustainable fisheries and conservation in River Ganga” implemneted by Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR)-Central Inland Fisheries Research Institute (CIFRI) under Namami Gange Programme.
- Following the success of the project in the past years, the project has been expanded at an estimated cost of Rs. 31.38 crore.
- The project aims to enhance fish conservation in Ganga river basin and to improve the livelihood of fishermen.
- The project includes captive breeding and stock enhancement of commercially essential indigenous and iconic fish species like Indian Major Carps (IMC), Hilsa, and Mahseer species across of Ganga Basin.
- The project also focuses on community sensitisation for the conservation of aquatic biodiversity and the livelihood improvement of fishers.
ii.The EC also approved the proposal to develop Ganga Vatika Park in Dhalwala, Uttarakhand.
National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG):
i.NMCG is the implementation wing of the National Ganga River Basin Authority (NGRBA).
ii.It is a registered society originally formed by the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEFCC) on 12th August 2011 under the Societies Registration Act, 1860.
iii.As per the 306th amendment in the Government of India (Allocation of Business) Rules, 1961, both NGRBA and NMCG were allocated to the Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation (MoWR, RD&GR).
Recent Related News:
The Rural WASH Partners’ Forum (RWPF), a platform of the Department of Drinking Water & Sanitation (DDWS) under the Ministry of Jal Shakti, celebrated its 1st anniversary during a two-day National Conference on Rural WASH Partners’ Forum at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi, Delhi.
About Ministry of Jal Shakti:
The Ministry of Jal Shakti has been formed by merging the MoWR, RD&GR, and the Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation in 2019.
Union Minister– Gajendra Singh Shekhawat (Constituency- Jodhpur, Rajasthan)
Minister of States– Prahlad Singh Patel (Constituency- Damoh, Madhya Pradesh); Bishweswar Tudu (Constituency- Mayurbhanj, Odisha)
