In view of the October 2018 deadline set for cleaning the Ganga, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has reviewed the execution of the ambitious ‘Namami Gange’ project and is understood to have instructed officials to execute it in Government-public model rather than only as a Government programme.
This was the first meeting, held on Thursday, after the BJP came to power in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand, the river's two key basin states whose previous Governments were accused by the Centre of not cooperating fully.
Modi is learnt to have instructed the officials to ensure involvement of the people so that it doesn't remain only a Government programme and also proper dissemination of information related to the project.
Modi's instructions came amid reports that the implementation of the programme was lagging behind schedule.
The sewage treatment capacity in towns along the Ganga is being enhanced substantially and considerable focus is being placed on large cities like Haridwar, Kanpur, Allahabad, Varanasi, Patna, Bhagalpur, Howrah and Kolkata, officials informed the Prime Minister. Modi was also informed that intensive monitoring and inspection of the grossly-polluting industries has been taken up, which has led to "considerable improvement" in the water quality of some of the tributaries of the river.
Senior officials from various government departments made presentations on the programme and apprised the prime minister of action taken and the progress made on it, it said.
According to a PMO statement, "The officials said that this has led to considerable improvement in the water quality of some of the tributaries of the river Ganga."
Parameters such as "dissolved oxygen" and "biochemical oxygen demand" have been studied as part of this assessment. The PM was also apprised of the considerable progress made in rural sanitation in villages along the banks of the river Ganga, the statement said.