Namami Gange Programme | 18 Jun 2021

Why in News

Recently, an agreement was signed for Development of 35 MLD (Mega Liters per day) Sewage Treatment Plant in Maheshtala (City situated on the east bank of River Ganga), West Bengal under Namami Gange Programme.

Key Points

  • Namami Gange Programme:
    • Namami Gange Programme is an Integrated Conservation Mission, approved as a ‘Flagship Programme’ by the Union Government in June 2014 to accomplish the twin objectives of effective abatement of pollution and conservation and rejuvenation of National River Ganga.
    • It is being operated under the Department of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation, Ministry of Jal Shakti.
    • The program is being implemented by the National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG), and its state counterpart organizations i.e State Program Management Groups (SPMGs).
    • NMCG is the implementation wing of National Ganga Council (set in 2016; which replaced the National Ganga River Basin Authority - NGRBA).
    • It has a Rs. 20,000-crore, centrally-funded, non-lapsable corpus and consists of nearly 288 projects.
    • The main pillars of the programme are:
      • Sewage Treatment Infrastructure
      • River-Front Development
      • River-Surface Cleaning
      • Biodiversity
      • Afforestation
      • Public Awareness
      • Industrial Effluent Monitoring
      • Ganga Gram
  • The Ganga River System:
    • The headwaters of the Ganga called the ‘Bhagirathi’ are fed by the Gangotri Glacier and joined by the Alaknanda at Devprayag in Uttarakhand.
    • At Haridwar, Ganga emerges from the mountains to the plains.
    • The Ganga is joined by many tributaries from the Himalayas, a few of them being major rivers such as the Yamuna, the Ghaghara, the Gandak and the Kosi.

Source: PIB