National Mission For Clean Ganga (NMCG)

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National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG)

News:

 Under the National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG), the Government has
installed treatment plants.

About:

 These plants are capable of treating 20% of the sewage to be generated


in the five major States that lie along the river– Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh,
Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal.
 This is expected to increase to about 33% by 2024; and 60% by
December 2026.
 Projects to set up STPs and sewerage networks are at the heart of the
Namami Ganga mission, and account for about 80% of the overall project
outlay.

National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG)

 It was registered as a society in 2011 under the Societies Registration Act


1860.
 Aim & Objective:
o To ensure effective abatement of pollution and rejuvenation
of the river Ganga by adopting a river basin approach.
o To maintain minimum ecological flows in the river Ganga with
the aim of ensuring water quality and environmentally sustainable
development.

 The Act envisages five tier structure at national, state and district
level:
o National Ganga Council under the chairmanship of Prime Minister of
India.
o Empowered Task Force (ETF) on river Ganga under chairmanship of
Union Minister of Jal Shakti (Department of Water Resources, River
Development and Ganga Rejuvenation).
o National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG).
o State Ganga Committees.
o District Ganga Committees in every specified district abutting river
Ganga and its tributaries in the states.

 NMCG has a two-tier management structure and comprises of:


o Governing Council
o Executive Committee
o Both are headed by Director General, NMCG and the Executive
Committee has been authorised to accord approval for all projects up to
Rs.1000 crore.

Success of the Mission


 The river’s water quality is now within “prescribed limits of notified
primary bathing water quality,” an NMCG fact-sheet said.
 There is a conspicuous sign of the improvement in water quality along the
Ganga was a rise in the dolphin population from 2,000 to about
4,000.
 Also there is a presence of dolphins in new stretches of the river as
well as in tributaries of Ganga.
 Fishermen are also reporting the increased presence of Indian carp, a
fish species that only thrives in clean water.

Way Ahead:

 Several Sewage Treatment Plants took time to be commissioned as there were


problems with land acquisition. Hence, there is a need to ease the process
of land acquisition.
 The Detailed Project Reports, which prescribe steps to execute a project,
and the roles of various actors, needs revision as there is an impression that
building treatment plants is entirely the Centre’s responsibility.
 The parameters used by the Central Pollution Control Board (levels of
dissolved oxygen, biochemical oxygen demand, and faecal coliform), vary
widely along various stretches of the river, reflecting still a long way ahead.
 On the lines of the air quality index, there is a need to develop a water
quality index, to be able to better communicate about river-water quality of
various locations.

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