In a bid to clean Narmada river drive on a strong footing, the Madhya Pradesh Government would be installing sewage treatment plants along its banks in the main cities of the State. This will cost anywhere from Rs70 crore to Rs600 crore.
Stating this here Madhaya Pradesh Public Relations Minister Narottam Mishra said on Monday that under the leadership of Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan the river would not only be completely cleaned but the area around it would also be resurrected with plantation of trees in about 800 km track and by incentivizing organic farming along its run. He said unlike other major rivers which originates from glaciers, Narmada sprouts from the fountains in the forest region.
He said around 3,343 sewage treatment plants would be installed along the river route in the cities including Jabalpur and Hoshangabad. The cost of each plant would be anywhere from Rs70 crore to Rs600 crore.
“All the plants will be completed by 2019”, the Minister said. Mishra said the State Government has already removed a bone factory and a paper mill along the river banks in a bid to ensure that river is not contaminated.
In an attempt to create “massive awareness” and involve people the state Government has organised ‘Namami devi Narmade - Narmada Seva Yatra’ from December 11, 2016, to May 11, 2017. The ongoing yatra which started from Amarkantak and again to end there had the participation of the Chief Minister himself, said Mishra.
By January 7, 2017, the Yatra had covered 673 Km with around seven lakh people, for far, participating in the river cleaning “movement”, the State Minister said. He said during yatra around 6.56 lakh people in the state had pledged to give up alcohol.
Narmada is also known as Rslife line of Madhya PradeshRs for its huge contribution to the state in many ways. It forms the traditional boundary between North India and South India and flows westwards over a length of 1,312 km before draining through the Gulf of Cambay into the Arabian Sea, 30 km west of Bharuch city of Gujarat. Thousands of temples and spots of keen tourist interests dot the river route, Mishra said pointing to its key role in the religious and cultural life of the state.