‘Namami Gange’ is the best chance to clean up
As the Namami Gange project takes shape, it is important to ensure that this most recent, and indeed the biggest, attempt to clean the Ganga is not plagued by the same problems and concerns that rendered previous efforts almost ineffective. The stakes are especially high this time around. For the Modi Government, Namami Gange is one of its flagship projects, and the success or failure of this initiative will have a visible impact on the Government's report card when it goes for re-election in 2019. Also, since Prime Minister Narendra Modi is the MP from Varanasi, a constituency which is inextricably linked to the flow of the Ganga, the project has an added significance for the incumbent regime.
For the public, it is the Rs20,000 crore of tax-payer money, which the Government has just committed to the project, apart from the Rs2,037 crore allocated in the Union Budget and Rs100 crore earmarked for ghat beautification, that it must keep its eyes on. This is a huge amount, even for a large state-funded project. To put things in perspective, consider this: In the 30 years since Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi launched the first initiative to clean up the river, the nation has spent just about Rs6,855 crore. The Modi Government plans to spend more than three times that amount in one-sixth the period — which is great, as long as it can deliver the desired results. Past efforts in this regard, from the Ganga Action Plans to the more recent National River Ganga Basin Authority, have failed, and miserably, even as hundreds of crores of rupees were flushed down the waters of the Ganga.
Yes, corruption, poor implementation and lack of accountability have been problems in the past, as a result of which previous programmes could produce only very limited impact. But let's not overlook the fact that cleaning the Ganga is as complicated a task as it is time-consuming, and the Modi Government must learn from the mistakes of the past. There are several factors that cause pollution in the river — from industrial effluent and agricultural waste to human-generated trash and half-burnt dead bodies. Each of these brings its own set of challenges, from enacting and enforcing anti-pollution laws to changing public behaviour and mindsets, and each one of these issues will have to be addressed. And that's not all. The Ganga runs through several States and has innumerable tributaries, all of which have to be included in the solution or else they will remain a part of the problem. The ambitious Namami Gange plan covers 47 towns across 12 States and extends to 11 of the Ganga's tributaries.
This sounds promising on paper, but in reality it means that intensive cooperation will be needed between the Centre (which is footing the bill) and the State Governments (which will, at least partially, be responsible for implementation). Similar coordination will be needed also among agencies and ministries involved at the level of individual States. One hopes political differences will not become obstacles. The Modi Government is also seeking to rope in the local players, such as municipal bodies and panchayati raj institutions, so that there is a sense of accountability at the community level. This is an important break from the past, when the schemes mostly had a top-down approach.