Namami Gange unified sewerage systems across 3 Uttarakhand towns

The National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) on Wednesday said a sewerage network developed under the Namami Gange programme has brought the sewerage systems of Rishikesh, Tapovan and Muni Ki Reti under a single framework, transforming wastewater management in the region.

The NMCG emphasised that the transformation is not the result of a single project but of a comprehensive restructuring of the region’s wastewater management system.

According to the mission, before the programme was launched, drains from Rishikesh flowed directly into the Ganga, sewage treatment capacity was limited, and the sewerage systems of Rishikesh, Tapovan and Muni Ki Reti operated independently.

The NMCG said the work began in 2017 to bring the three adjoining urban areas under a unified sewerage network as part of the Namami Gange programme.

The mission further informed that with an investment of `375 crore, the network established a total sewage treatment capacity of 55 MLD.

The system comprises modern sewage treatment plants equipped with automation and tertiary treatment facilities, while drains have been intercepted and diverted to prevent untreated sewage from entering the Ganga.  According to the NMCG, six of the seven sanctioned projects have been completed, while one project is under construction.

The mission said the projects were approved in 2017, the construction of sewage treatment plants began in 2018, Tapovan was integrated into the network in 2019, and Muni Ki Reti was connected in 2022.

The integrated system has strengthened Ganga conservation in the region by ensuring wastewater is treated before being discharged into the river, the NMCG said, adding that it has laid the foundation for cleaner stretches of the Ganga at Rishikesh, where the Himalayan river enters the plains.

“The result is visible in the Ganga. The water that once flowed untreated further downstream now reaches the river only after treatment. In the very city through which the Ganga passes as it descends from the Himalayas before entering the plains, the foundation of its cleanliness has already been laid,” the NMCG said in a post on social media. “The city has changed. The Ganga has changed,” it added.