Varanasi will be first city with zero discharge of pollutants into Ganga

Ain view of the Kumbh. Further, Rs 113 crore was sanctioned for over 47,000 toilets at the Kumbh.

This is in addition to the ongoing sewage treatment facilities at Prayagraj and its adjoining areas. Officials said three new STPS at Naini, Jhusi and Phaphamau in Prayagraj would treat 72 MLD of sewer water before being discharged into the Ganga.

The Namami Gange project consists of 261 projects, 194 of which deal with constructing STPS, rural sanitation and bioremediation largely spanning Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, West Bengal, Bihar and Jharkhand, which are responsible for most of the pollution.

Most of the 221 projects under the Namami Gange Mission worth Rs 25,563 crore are at advanced stages of completion.

Officials said the ministry introduced the hybrid annuity model (HAM) in sewage treatment, similar to the one in the roads and highway sector, for expediting the execution of the projects.

Works on two projects (50 MLD in Varanasi and 82 MLD in Haridwar) are nearing completion under the HAM and other projects that are sanctioned include Naini, Jhusi, Phaphamau, Unnao, Shuklaganj, Mathura, Kanpur, Mirzapur, Gazipur and Farrukhabad in Uttar Pradesh; Digha, Kankarbagh and Bhagalpur in Bihar; and in Howrah, Bally, Kamarhati and Baranagar in West Bengal, apart from Tolly’s Nalla in Kolkata.

“These sewage management projects will take care of the current gap in sewage treatment and also sustain the sewage treatment for future,” a Namami Gange official added.