Union Water Resources and Ganga Rejuvenation Minister Nitin Gadkari on Tuesday instructed officials and contractors involved in the Uttarakhand Namami Gange Project to complete all infrastructure work relating to sewage treatment plants, cleaning the ghats and restoring crematoria by December 2018.
The Minister’s comments followed a review meeting on the progress of the mission and is in line with the government’s commitment to ensure that 80% of the Ganga is clean by May 2019.
298 projects
The 20,000 crore Namami Gange mission consists of 298 projects — 194 of which deal with constructing STPs, rural sanitation and bioremediation — largely spanning Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Bihar and Jharkhand, which are responsible for most of the pollution.
Sixteen out of 31 sanctioned STP projects in Uttarakhand are complete and work is in progress on the remaining 15 STPs. Projected sewerage generation in the year 2035 in Uttarakhand is 122 MLD (Million Litres per Day) while the existing treatment capacity is 97.6 MLD. The projects under implementation will create a capacity for treating 131.7 MLD sewage after completion.
