Implementation of Clean Ganga Targets

Cleaning of river is a continuous process and Government of India is supplementing the efforts of the State Government in addressing the challenges of pollution in river Ganga and its tributaries by providing financial and technical assistance under Namami Gange Programme. Under this Programme, a diverse set of interventions for cleaning and rejuvenation of river Ganga have been taken up including waste water treatment, solid waste management, river front management (ghats and crematoria), maintaining continuous flow in river, rural sanitation, afforestation, biodiversity, conservation and public participation etc.

The interventions taken up under “Namami Gange” programme have led to marked improvement in water quality across various erstwhile polluted stretches of river Ganga.

As per CPCB data for 2021, the observed water quality of river Ganga indicates that Dissolved Oxygen (DO), which is an indicator of river health has been found to be within acceptable limits of notified primary bathing water quality criteria and is satisfactory to support the ecosystem of the river for almost the entire stretch of the river Ganga. As per CPCB report of 2018, there were four polluted stretches on main stem of river Ganga (one stretch in Priority III, two stretch in priority IV and one stretch under priority V), with priority I being most polluted. With the various interventions taken up under the Namami Gange Programme, the water quality of river Ganga has remarkably improved across various erstwhile polluted stretches of river Ganga. Now, as per the water quality report of 2021, none of the Ganga Stretches are in priority category I to IV and only two stretches are in Category V with Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD) ranging between 3-6 mg/l as per CPCB categorization of polluted stretch. As per comparison of median data of water quality parameters viz., DO, BOD and Faecal Coliform for year 2014 and 2021; DO (Median) has improved at 31 locations; BOD at 46 locations and FC at 23 locations, respectively.

The definition of various priority categories is given below:

Priority Category	I	II	III	IV	V
Criteria	BOD > 30 mg/l	BOD: 20-30 mg/l	BOD: 10-20 mg /l	BOD: 6-10 mg/l	BOD: 3-6 mg / l

 

The projects sanctioned under Namami Gange has gained the requisite momentum and with completion of these projects the cleaning process of river Ganga will be further continued.

CPCB under “Namami Gange” has established 18 RTWQMS stations, measuring the water quality of the main stem of River Ganga with effect from March 2017. These locations measure a maximum of seventeen and a minimum of eight parameters including ammonia, chloride and nitrate at the designated locations. Boron and arsenic are not part of the parameters monitored in real-time network.

World Health Organization (WHO) has stipulated the following drinking water specifications:

 

 

The details of real-time water monitoring stations recording parameters exceeding WHO safe limits for Ammonia, Nitrate, Chloride, Boron and Arsenic, State-wise are annexed as Annexure-I.

Under Namami Gange Programme, 160 sewerage infrastructure projects have been taken up with a sanctioned cost of Rs.24,633.01 crore for creation and rehabilitation of 4930 MLD of STP capacity and laying of 5227 km of sewerage network, out of which 78 projects have been completed resulting in creation and rehabilitation of 1,169 MLD of STP capacity and laying of 3,908 km sewerage network.

The details of sewerage infrastructure projects taken up and completed along with details of the cost of these projects, state-wise, is given in Annexure-II.

In the year 2020, CPCB monitored 334 drains discharging into river Ganga and its tributaries discharging about 11784.8 MLD (million liters per day) of raw water mixed with waste water.

 

STATES	Monitored Drains	Flow (MLD)
GANGA STATES
Uttarakhand	25	141.13
Uttar Pradesh	154	2185.04
Bihar	19	609.48
Jharkhand	6	2.89
West Bengal	56	6627.45
Total-A	260	9565.99
TRIBUTARY STATES
Uttarakhand (Banganga)	2	169.17
Uttar Pradesh (Ramganga)	25	497.37
Uttar Pradesh (Kali East)	26	1334.15
Uttar Pradesh (Pandu)	6	180.08
Uttar Pradesh (Yamuna, Moorva, Jargo, Ozla and Varuna)	15	37.99
Total-B	74	2218.76
Total (A+B)	334	11784.8

 

In context of river Ganga, Government have issued a Gazette notification dated 9^th October 2018, wherein minimum environmental flows that is to be maintained in river Ganga from its origin to Unnao (Uttar Pradesh) have been notified. The details are as below.

For Upper Ganga river basin (origin to Haridwar):

 

S.No.	Seasons	Months	(%) Percentage of Monthly Average Flow Observed during each of preceding 10-daily period
1	Dry	November-March	20
2	Lean	October, April & May	25
3	High Flow	June to September	30

 

For river Ganga below Haridwar upto Unnao:

 

S.No.	Location of Barrage	Minimum flow releases immediately downstream of barrages (In Cumecs) Non- Monsoon (October to May)	Minimum flow releases immediately downstream of barrages (In Cumecs) Monsoon (June to September)
1	Bhimgoda	36	57
2	Bijnor	24	48
3	Narora	24	48
4	Kanpur	24	48

This Information was given by the Minister of State for Jal Shakti, Shri Bishweswar Tudu in a written  reply in Rajya Sabha today.

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ANNEXURE-I

REGARDING “Implementation of Clean Ganga targets”

 

 

 

 

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ANNEXURE-II

 

REGARDING “Implementation of Clean Ganga targets”

 

Type of Project and State		No of Projects Sanctioned	Total Sanctioned Cost (Rs., Cr.)	No of Projects Completed
Sewerage Projects	Uttarakhand	36	1,373.19	33
	Uttar Pradesh	53	10,563.17	30
	Bihar	30	5,530.65	5
	Jharkhand	3	217.17	1
	West Bengal	24	4,099.88	3
	Haryana	2	217.87	2
	Delhi	9	1,951.03	3
	Himachal Pradesh	1	11.57	1
	Rajasthan	1	258.48	0
	Modular STPs Decentralized	1	410	0
	Total	160	24,633.01	78

 

 

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