Government finds Rs 20,000 crore not enough to clean Ganga

More than a year after the Narendra Modi government kept an outlay of Rs 20,000 crore for its Namami Gange programme, the question remains whether the amount is enough to carry out a task as herculean as cleaning one of the most polluted rivers in the world. The government admitted in a recent reply to a parliamentary committee that “there is fund constraint” in ensuring treatment of the total sewage generated, a lot of which pollutes the river directly and is the main cause.

According to government’s own estimates, an amount of Rs 5 to 10 crore is needed on an average to collect and treat one million litres sewage a day. As per the National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG), the nodal agency for the project, the gap between the sewage generation and treatment in the five major states through which the Ganga traverses is 6,334 million litres per day (MLD). “If the government estimate is to be believed, about Rs 50,000 crore to one lakh crore is required only to treat all the sewage generated in the five states. This is apart from operation and maintenance cost,” said a source in the water ministry, adding, “In such a scenario, how is it possible to not just create sewage treatment capacity but to also beautify the ghats, remake crematoriums, and do other works to clean the river in Rs 20,000 crore ”

Replying in August to a query of parliamentary committee on “repair, renovation and restoration of water bodies,” the environment ministry informed: “The total sewage generation in the country in 2015 was 62,000 MLD. As against this, the available capacity for treatment is only 23,000 MLD which is almost one third. The basic responsibility for installation of sewage treatment plant and the laying of sewage system lies with urban local bodies but they do not have funds.”

The reply also added: “Our ministry, urban development ministry, and water ministry are giving funds but that is not adequate. On an average, for collecting and treating one MLD an amount of Rs 5 to 10 crore are needed. If we add this figure to the present gap, it is coming to a figure of Rs 2 to 2.5 lakh crore.”