Prime Minister Narendra Modi might be concerned over the state of Ganga river, but the authorities responsible for keeping the river pollution free seem reluctant to care about its condition.
As a result, the river becomes contaminated near its source in Gangotri itself. The sewage treatment plant approved for Gangotri in 2007 has not yet been built. In
addition, the sewage from Uttarkashi town is also being dumped into the Bhagirathi river. The Rs 10.48 crore sewage treatment plant at Gangotri was given the green signal in 2007, but even after seven years, out of 2.25
kilometres sewer line only 1.61 kilometres line has been laid so far.
The work on three sewage pumping stations and a sewage treatment plant in the region has remained incomplete. The 100 KW power needed to operate the treatment plant has not yet been facilitated. The Rs 8.25 crore sewage treatment plant in Uttarkashi which was damaged in past floods has not yet been repaired. The 1,570 metre sewer line, two pumping stations and three small treatment plants in Uttarkashi were damaged in last year's floods. Now the raw sewage is being dumped directly into the Bhagirathi from Tambakhani sewage pumping station.
According to officials at the Ganga Pollution Control Unit, Rs 448.75 lakh sought for repair of the Uttarkashi plant has not been received so far. It is not possible to prevent dumping of raw sewage in the Bhagirathi without repairing this treatment plant. The Gangotri temple committee secretary Suresh Semwal blamed the apathy and inefficiency of the government machinery for the degeneration of the river which is being contaminated near its source. However, the expression of concern for the Ganga by the Prime Minister has raised some hopes about the authorities acting as required to prevent the degeneration of the holy river.