FOLLOW THE RIVER

Minister for Water Resource & Ganga Rejuvenation

ACHIEVEMENTS

n Tenders out for effluent treatment plants in seven out of 10 cities along the Ganga responsible for 70 per cent of the pollution: Haridwar, Moradabad, Kanpur, Mathura, Allahabad, Varanasi, Patna, Bhagalpur, Kolkata and Howrah. Plants will start in July 2018, to be operational by July 2020

n Resolving interstate disputes between UP and MP, for the Ken-Betwa river linking project that is expected to take care of Bundelkhand’s water woes

CHALLENGES

n Failed to solve interstate dispute over sharing of Mahanadi waters between Chhattisgarh and Odisha, now in tribunal court

n Slow pace of PM’s programme to revive 99 irrigation projects estimated at Rs 80,000 crore. Just Rs 18,000 have been spent in 3 years 20,000 crore Budget outlay for 5 years, approved for the flagship ‘Namami Gange’ programme in May 2015, to control pollution, conserve and rejuvenate the river Ganges 4,000 crore Overall expenditure on the Ganga by Government of India since 1985; the budget now is a fourfold increase in the past 30 years 187projects Sanctioned under the Namami Gange programme for infrastructure development, river surface cleaning, rural sanitation and other interventions at a cost of Rs 16,713 crore; Rs 8,860 crore allocated to the ministry for 2018-19