Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to inaugurate the sewerage treatment plant and river front coming up under the much acclaimed Namami Gange project in the State. Construction of sewerage treatment plant and river front development under this project are being carried out on the banks of the holy Ganga in Sahibganj and Rajmahal districts.
While the exact date of the PM’s visit to Sahibganj has not been finalized, he is likely to inaugurate the project next month. This will be Modi’s second visit to Sahibganj, as on April 2017 he had visited the town to lay the foundation stone of a multi-modal terminal on river Ganga.
State urban development department, secretary, Ajoy Kumar Singh in this connection on Tuesday held a review meeting which was attended by department officials. The urban development secretary directed the officials to complete the construction process of six ganga ghats coming up at Sahibgang and Rajmahal districts. Singh said, “The construction work of two sewerage treatment plants at Sahibgang district is completed and it will be functional by February, while the construction work of sewerage treatment plant at Rajmahal is going on and it will be completed by June this year.”
As per the plan, three sewerage treatment plants will be constructed in both the town while six ghats will come up in Sahibganj and Rajmahal district. In Sahibgang district, around 17000 houses will be connected through sewerage treatment plant, similarly in Rajmahal district around 6000 houses will be connected through the plant.
Anant Ojha, Rajmahal MLA who has been working on Namami Ganga project said, “Under the project `137 crore has been sanctioned for construction of sewerage plants and river front development in Sahibanj. Similarly, in Rajmahal town, `56 crore has been sanctioned.”
He added, “As the two towns (Sahibganj having the population of one lakh and Rajmahal with 50,000) do not have much industrial effluents, the construction of sewerage treatment plants will help in checking flow of solid and liquid waste in the river.”
Sources said that entire 83 km stretch of Ganga in Jharkhand will be covered under the programme. The projects will focus on making villages along the river free of open defecation. The major thrust of the Namami Ganga project is to use technologies to ensure improved access for managing solid and liquid waste which will help in improving the health and quality of people life.
Replacing the National Mission for Clean Ganga which was set up in 2011, the Modi government in 2014 launched the ‘Namami Ganga’ under the National Mission for clean Ganga initiative with an allocated budget of `20,000 crores for five years. The main objective of the project is to ensure sewage management, industrial discharge management and the beautification of several ghats along the Ganga.
However, the Opposition has termed the inauguration of sewerage treatment plant as election gimmick. Pradeep Yadav, Jharkhand Vikas Morcha (JVM) leader and party MLA from Poreyahat, which comes under Santhal Pargana region said, “The inauguration of sewerage treatment plant is sa election gimmick. The Union Government and State government have failed to clean the river.” Echoing the views of Yadav, city based environmentalist, Nitish Priyadarshi said, “Unless and until the Ganga is clean in upper catchment area, the river cannot be cleaned.”