After visiting Haridwar and Rishikesh to understand aspects of the Namami Gange Project, worth Rs 900 crore (121.5 million Euros) for which the technical assisatance will be given by Germany where they have managed to clean the Rhine river in 50 years with consistent effort, German ambassador to India Martin Ney made a courtesy call on Governor Krishan Kant Paul and Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat on Friday. The German Government is ready to provide support, especially technical support, for the development of Uttarakhand, it was conveyed.
The Governor said that Germany’s support would be significant in the cleanliness project for Ganga river. The experience of Germany in keeping the Rhine and Danube rivers clean would greatly help in rejuvenating the Ganga.
It may be mentioned here that last year, there was an agreement between the Water Resources Ministry of Government of India and German Society for International Cooperation (GIZ) of the German Government. The river management strategies used for the Rhine and Danube will be used for the Ganga.
He apprised the Chief Minister about 125 million Euros investment plan targeted by Germany for the State of Uttarakhand. He was basically interested in sewerage treatment plant and sewerage management in Haridwar and Rishikesh. Further, sewerage management works may take place in some parts of Dehradun apart from these two cities. Ney was impressed to know the fact that growth rate and per capita income of Uttarakhand State was above than national average. He also recalled that the prime minister of India Narendra Modi had asked to consider some investment plans in Uttarakhand in a previous meeting.
The Chief Minister apprised the German Ambassador that the State Government was committed to good governance, service delivery to grass root level along with making constant efforts to improve rural economy and doubling the income of farmers. All the Governmental schemes are being implemented with “outcome, target and timeline” frame. Uttarakhand will be among top most states soon, Chief Minister expressed. A replica of the Kedarnath shrine was presented as a memento to German Ambassador by Chief Minister of the State.
Thereafter, he had Ney had meeting with chief secretary S Ramaswamy in his office and later addressed media as well. During media interaction, the ambassador said that Germany is one of the partners of Indian Government for the Namami Gange Programme. It is geared to tackle the abatement of pollution, conservation and rejuvenation of Ganga river. The GIZ and technology from German Technology would be very helpful to implement best practices gained, he said, while citing the experience in clearning the European rivers like the Rhine and the Danube.
“The upstream area in the Uttarakhand is in the focus of our German Development Corporation (GDC). We are supporting the National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) and the State Programme Management Group (SPMG) of the Uttarakhand Government. Currently, we are focussing on eradicating pollution mainly occurring from domestic and industrial sources,” said the ambassador. He also sought media cooperation to create public awareness about how they can contribute in clean Ganga mission. Talking to the media persons, Chief Secretary S Ramaswamy said that before meeting with Government they preferred to visit the project site. After assessing the situation, the German delegation had a meeting along with those with expertise on different works associated with the Namami Gange project. A deal had been signed between the Government of India and Germany in 2015 when Prime Minister Narendra Modi had visited the country.