A few days after a video which purportedly asked the devotees to refrain from using the water of Ganga for religious or other purposes while citing its poor quality at Rishikesh went viral on the social networking sites, the senior functionaries of Ganga Mahasabha tore into the Narendra Modi Government, dubbing the much-vaunted Namami Gange as a colossal fiasco. The refrain that runs is that humungous funds are being squandered away in the name of cleansing the sacred river and they are going down the drain with Ganga remaining as polluted as ever.
President of Ganga Mahasabha Purushottam Sharma Gandhiwadi said, “Whatever the present Government has done so far is not yet visible on the surface. A fortnight ago, the State Finance Minister Prakash Pant came for the launch of Ganga Swachta Pakhwara which is more ceremonious than practical. They pontificate while the drains are falling right into the revered river.” He further said that a staggering Rs 20,000 crore has been pumped into the execution of Namami Gange so far. “However, things are as gloomy as ever. The officials are demanding more and the ministers are fawning on them,” he added.
However, the National Mission for Clean Ganga executive director Rozy Agarwal rebutted the charge of nothing being done. “This is not true. Works are going on in full swing. The tendering process for tackling the drains issue has started,” he added.
Sharma sounded unconvinced. “When the President came to Har Ki Paidi we showed the district officials all the points where the drains are falling in Ganga. Nothing has come up since,” he regretted.
The people residing in the neighbourhood of the holy river echoed the same while citing the failure of the sewage pumping station installed at Vishnu Ghat. They say that a part of the sewage water remains un-pumped and is still flowing right into the river.
President of SIIDCUl Industrial Association Arun Saraswat says, “Administration is well aware of the limited capacity of the sewage treatment plants which have been installed. Neither the STPs are working as they should nor are attempts being made to close the outlets of adjoining buildings dumping sewerage into Ganga. The administration continues to pay lip service without doing anything tangible on the ground,” he rued.
Quizzed over the state of things, the head of district committee of Namami Gange and Haridwar district magistrate Deepak Rawat said, “Two meetings have been held in the last month and work has been done on 17 drains. Work is underway in five of them. Sewerage drains at Kadachh Mohalla in Jwalapur, Kassaban and Bhim Goda are being worked upon and the task would be completed before August. Besides, I would personally visit the sites in Jagjeetpur next week to see how the capacity of Jagjeetpur Sewage Treatment Plant is being enhanced.”