Chief Minister Raghubar Das has underlined the issue of cleaning Damodar River that flows for 300 kilometers in Jharkhand along with cleaning Ganga. Addressing the high level meeting called by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Delhi on Ganga Action Plan, the CM said the river of the coal belt was one of the most polluted and needed immediate attention.
“Damodar River has 300 kilometers stretch in Jharkhand. Though the river does not meet Ganga but it has special importance (for the State). It is amongst the most polluting rivers. Coal mines and coal washeries related to Central Government are located on its bank which is affecting the river badly,” said Das and demanded that the concerned Ministries should call a meeting of all concerned parties to deal with the problem.
Talking about Ganga, whose stretch is just 83 kms in the State and is confined only to Rajmahal of Sahebgunj district, the CM said that the task can be accomplished without much pain. “There are 74 villages of Rajmahal which are located at the bank of Ganga and 15 drains fall into the river. Only 10 per cent of the villagers belonging to the 74 villages use toilets and the rest defecate in open. It is necessary to build toilet in every household along with community toilets,” he said. The CM at the same time also underlined the importance of solid waste management and sought special package of Rs60 crore from the Centre.
About nine china clay washeries are located at the bank of Ganga and untreated water from the units flows directly to the river. The State Government would request the units to install water treatment plants at their premises so that the pristine river can be saved from getting polluted.
Besides reducing pollution level of the river, the CM said, bank of Ganga should also be developed and beautified and demanded Rs 50 crore from the Center for river front treatment. “As under the Ganga Action Plan different Departments such as Urban Development, Water Resources, Drinking Water and Sanitation etc have to work in a coordinated manner, it may consume lot of time. It would be better that single window system is in place for the purpose,” said the CM.