The Union Ministry of Water Resources has identified cleaning up of the Ganga and execution of river water-related provisions under the Telangana Act as its top priorities in the first 100 days of the Narendra Modi government.
The National Ganga River Basin Authority (NGRBA), which is presently under the Ministry of Environment and Forests, is likely to be transferred to the Water Resources Ministry.
Water Resources Minister Uma Bharti has already held a meeting with senior officials of the NGRBA to know of the progress made so far in cleaning up the river.
Among other priorities are setting up and operating Krishna River Management Board and Godavari River Management Board for overseeing the sharing of Krishna and Godavari waters and regulating projects in the two basins, as defined in the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation (or Telangana) Act, 2014.
An apex council, chaired by the Water Resources Minister, with the Chief Ministers of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh as its members, will be constituted for the supervision of the two boards. This is also a provision in the Telangana Act.
. Setting up a Polavaram National Project Authority for the multi-purpose scheme has also been included in the 100-day priority list.
