On 23rd December 2022, National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) Executive Committee approved 12 projects worth around Rs 2,700 crore for developing sewerage infrastructure in the Ganga basin – Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal, with special focus on tributaries of Ganga.
- The projects were approved during the 46th meeting of the Executive Committee(EC) of NMCG organised under the chairmanship of G. Asok Kumar, Director General, NMCG on 23rd December 2022.
Attendees:
Himansu Badoni, Executive Director (Projects), NMCG, D.P. Mathuria, Executive Director (Finance), NMCG, S.P. Vashishtha, Executive Director, (Admin), NMCG, Bhaskar Dasgupta, Executive Director (Finance), NMCG, Mrs. Richa Misra, Joint Secretary and Financial Advisor, Department of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation, Ministry of Jal Shakti, representation from states and senior officials of NMCG were also present during the meeting.
Other Projects Approved During 46th meeting of EC of NMCG:
i.In West Bengal, a project for Rejuvenation of River Adi Ganga, tributary of Ganga, in Kolkata was approved at an estimated cost of Rs. 653.67 crore.
- This includes construction of 3 Sewage Treatment Plants (STPs) of 10 Million Litres per Day (MLD), 11.60 MLD and 3.5 MLD capacities.
ii.Afforestation Programmes for the year 2022-23 for Uttarakhand and Bihar were also approved at an estimated cost of Rs. 42.80 crore that aims to create an enabling environment for climate resilient and sustainable ecosystem management with community participatory approach.
iii.In Uttar Pradesh, 3 projects were approved, out of which one project pertains to the development of sewerage infrastructure in Prayagraj, costing Rs. 475.19 crore.
- This project envisages the construction of 90 MLD STP along with 20 KLD Faecal Sludge co-treatment facility and effluent station of 90 MLD, interception and diversion works.
- Two other projects in UP include construction of a 50 MLD STP and Interception & Diversion works (I&D) at an estimated cost of Rs. 264.67 crore at Loniapurva, Lucknow for River Gomti and 24 MLD STP and I&D works at Hathras town for Rivers Sengar and Karwancosting Rs. 128.91 crore.
iv.In Bihar, for Daudnagar town, a project at an estimated cost of Rs 42.25 crore has been approved for the construction of a 10.50 MLD STP along with I&D works and for Motihari town a project at an estimated cost of Rs 149.15 crore has been approved for the construction of 4 STPs of 4.6, 6.3, 5.8, 6.3 MLD capacities and I&D works.
- In Bihar, 4 projects of cost enhancement were also approved.
v.During the meeting a major project was approved in Jharkhand which includes, the construction of 5 STPs of total 192 MLD capacity(18+21+75+60+18), interception & diversion and other works at an estimated cost of Rs. 808.33 crore in Dhanbad town.
- This project will be implemented for the pollution abatement in River Damodar, a tributary of River Ganga and aims to tap all the drains falling into Damodar from the town, which indirectly pollutes River Ganga.
vi.The project titled ‘Scientific exploration of floral diversity near the Ganga river banks for ethnobotanical purposes along with their conservation and economic development of the region via skill development programs’ was also approved.
- The projects will be implemented in collaboration with Patanjali Research Institute (PRI) & Patanjali Organic Research Institute (PORI), Haridwar, Uttarakhand.
- This project has three components including.
Plant Biodiversity Exploration – Floral diversity, ethnobotanical, medicinal aspect and their phytochemical profiling for commercial valuation;
Training and Skill Development – Stakeholders such as farmers and traditional healing practitioners.
Advanced Scientific Research & Experimentation – soil & water quality; their impact on floral phytochemical; soil microbe interaction and its effect, medicinal plant varieties & along with exploration of medicinal properties.
Recent related news:
In August 2022, NMCG along with the Department of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation and the Ministry of Jal Shakti (MoJS), organised an event ‘Yamuna Par Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav’ at the water sports club in New Delhi
About National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG):
NMCG is the central nodal agency for Ganga Rejuvenation in India
Director General – G Asok Kumar
Headquarters – New delhi, Delhi
