In line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘Mission Clean Ganga’, the Centre has asked the States along the 2,500-km-long river basin to launch a special drive to set up toilets and community sanitary complexes in villages situated along the river banks to prevent open defecation and curb pollution.
The Union Water and Sanitation Ministry’s move follows the Government’s determination to restore the ecological flow of the holy river by taking anti-pollution measures in the Ganga States — Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Uttarakhand, West Bengal and Bihar — where about 45 crore people inhabit the river basin.
With a good percentage living in the villages relieving themselves directly in the river because of lack of proper toilet facilities, Pankaj Jain, Ministry’s Secretary has written to the States saying,
“This is causing untold pollution to the river which needs to be urgently checked. Also, the quality of drinking water to the towns/villages which is being sourced from the river is getting polluted and spoilt”.
Jain called for taking urgent steps as a special drive to provide individual household toilets as well as community sanitary complexes in all villages (including those near towns and municipal limits) falling on both sides of river Ganga to ensure water remains clean and pollution free and fit for utilization as a good source for drinking water schemes.
The Ministry has also asked the States to regularly report to it regarding the number of individual and community toilets sanctioned and built in villages falling on both sides of the river.
However, this would not be an easy task. Despite Rs 20,000 crore pumped over the years into the cleaning exercise for the river, it remains highly polluted. As per the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), 2.7 billion litres of sewage is generated every day by class 1 and class 2 cities along the river, but only 1.2 billion litres of treatment capacity exists. In other words, 55% of the sewage generated is dumped untreated into the Ganga.
It is estimated that India’s cities and towns generate 38.2 billion litres of sewage every day. And the country has the installed capacity to treat just 11.8 billion litres-31 per cent of what it needs, as per a government report.