Chief Minister Harish Rawat has stressed on the need of water conservation and construction of barrages on tributaries of the Ganga and Yamuna rivers to hold rainwater.Increased quantity of water in the Ganga will boost the Ganga cleaning efforts. There is also need for building large number of water bodies in the jungles to rejuvenate the forests while facilitating water and fodder for wild animals. The CM said this while holding a review meet on Namami Gange along with the Union minister for Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation, Uma Bharti at the secretariat here on Thursday.
Rawat said that constructing barrages on rivers like Song, Kosi and Nayar in Uttarakhand along with development of the chal-khal (pond and percolation pits) system can increase the quantity of water in the Ganga by upto five per cent. The Centre and State will have to make coordinated effort for this while also focusing on aspects like rain water conservation. He requested Bharti to facilitate funds for the sewerage treatment works being undertaken in Uttarakhand under Namami Gange. He said, “Our attempt is to ensure clean Ganga water for devotees during the Ardh Kumbh in 2016. The sewerage treatment works at Triveni Ghat, Rishikesh, Saray and Ahbavnagar Haridwar are in the final stage while work is underway on the sewerage schemes at Gangotri, Tapova, Badrinath, Joshimat, Gopeshwar and Devprayag.
Approval had been granted in the past for sewerage works and river front development projects in Haridwar and schemes in Gangotri, Devprayag and Uttarkashi but due to the Central assistance not being provided yet for these schemes, their execution has been hampered. Proposals for 15 schemes under Namami Gange are also pending approval from the Centre,” he added.Bharti directed officials to ensure necessary action without delay in response to the issues raised by Rawat. Instructing that construction of barrages and chal-khal system be linked to water revolution, Bharti said that a central technical team will be visiting the State soon in this regard. She assured the State Government full support in its efforts towards cleaning and protection of the Ganga and other rivers.