‘PRESERVING GANGA IS A CONTINUOUS EXERCISE, YAMUNA NEXT FOCUS’
Director, Namami Gange, says that to ensure Ganga remains clean is a collective responsibility of the people.
G. Asok Kumar, the Director General for the National Mission for Clean Ganga (Namami Gange), whose work in water preservation earned him the name of “Rain Man of India”, spoke to The Sunday Guardiavn on the progress that has been made in cleaning the Ganga and the challenges he is facing in cleaning and keeping Ganga clean.
The 1991 Telangana cadre Indian Administrative Services officer has in the past served in vital positions like Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Civil Aviation, Director in the Ministry of Power and in the Ministry of Home Affairs. Before joining NMCG, he served as the Mission Director for National Water Mission where in a campaign titled “Jal Shakti Abhiyan: Catch the Rain”, he sanctioned building of over 48 lakh water conservation and rainwater harvesting structures all over India. Due to his expertise in water and river preservation, he was assigned the role of Director General, Namami Gange, a project that is close to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Edited excerpts:
Q: By when can we see a clean Ganga?
A: Since garbage is generated every day, cleaning of Ganga has to be done every day. It is a continuous process. So, I can’t promise a certain date by which Ganga would be cleaned. But at NMCG, what we are trying to do is to create necessary infrastructure, efficient systems and establish a continuous connection with the locals for regular sanitization. These steps together will ensure that the river is cleaned every day and will make certain that no dirty water gets into the river. To ensure that it remains clean is also a collective responsibility of the people.
Ganga is actually clean now. If you look at the data provided by independent monitoring agencies like Central Pollution
Control Board etc corresponding to 2015, quality of water along stretches where the river flows through residential areas, you’ll find that all the stretches were under different categories of pollution level. But now we have only two stretches that are in category 5 which denote 6 to 9 BOD (Biochemical Oxygen Demand) in some small stretches in West Bengal and Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh. All other stretches are at bathing level. (Unpolluted rivers typically have a BOD below 1 mg/l. Moderately polluted rivers vary between 2 to 8 mg/l).
All such stretches are now being independently verified to make sure that BOD levels are in the acceptable range. So right now, Ganga water across all stretches is of good quality (bathing water standards). In fact, the first stretch at Haridwar is even better than the bathing standards, it is actually of drinking water standards as no sewage is coming at the upper stretches. Some areas in lower stretches still have little quantity of sewage coming in.
How clean or unclean Ganga is can be gauged from the return of native species and organic matter in the river because they will only come and survive if the water is fit for them. We talk about BOD, other similar parameters, but I would prefer nature’s testimony to show how clean the river is. Flora and fauna are the best judges. The flourishing biodiversity across the Ganga is a testimony of that. We have the numbers of dolphins increasing, and other species becoming more visible. We have asked National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI), Nagpur, to tell us about the changes that have come up post the cleaning of Ganga. Q: What are the main challenges that you are facing in this massive project?
A: In a state, it is easy to handle cleaning and preservation of water bodies. Ganga is a river that goes along five states and has 11 tributaries which feed
into the main river. This vastness and spread of Ganga is a big challenge, its continuous flow is a challenge, which is not the case with lakes. This whole process has multiple stakeholders. We have several municipal bodies who handle the sewage. In order to find a sustainable solution, we have to take them on board to ensure that they don’t dump sewage into the river and they develop a Sewage Treatment Plant (STP).
We are helping them technically as well as financially to develop STPS. We have taken a performance-based approach in awarding the contracts for these STPS. All these STPS are being constructed under Hybrid Annuity Model (HAM) that will ensure that the contract not only builds the STP but also maintains and operates it for the next 15 years.
We also have to ensure that solid waste does not enter the river. During the rains, solid wastes are washed down into the river through drains. These drains are to be guarded. We have agricultural related challenges too. Fertilizers are washed down into the river that we need to stop. Irrigation department too is involved as water is drawn to irrigate farms. So, you see, it is a multi-departmental exercise, all have to converge together to ensure that River Ganga is cleaned and stays clean. This is perhaps the biggest challenge.
Q: The river is polluted by people who stay near it and they need to play a vital role to preserve a river. Will you agree with this? A: As I have stated earlier, bringing behavioral change in people so that they do not pollute the river is a big task that we are working on. In fact Jan Ganga (people-river connect) is one of the pillars of Namami Gange initiative. People need to feel for the river, it cannot come through a government regulation. That is why we are working on “Arth Ganga”. A concept that was conceptualized by the PM in December 2019 in order to enhance economic activities along the Ganga River bank. Project Arth Ganga is energized by involving the local community in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal. Apart from providing benefits in terms of trade and access to markets, local community’s economic enhancement and passenger facilitation, the “Arth Ganga” project will also ensure largescale skills enhancement and public/private sector capability development. “Project Arth Ganga” would catalyze economic development in the Ganga basin to generate economic benefit of more than Rs. 1,000 crore over the next 5 years.
Q: How are you encouraging municipalities and locals from polluting Ganga?
A:
When we stop sewage from flowing into the river by using STPS, we generate a lot of sludge and treated water which we are monetizing so that the local bodies get money from it. Municipalities are making a lot of money through the sale of such treated water. This has become like a cash cow for them. Sludge is converted into manure which is then given to farmers. We are encouraging development of an ecosystem around the river, so that the river becomes a source of income generation for the locals and that will motivate them to preserve and protect it. “Ghat pe haat (local markets)” is something that we are pushing for so that locals can sell their products at weekly markets at Ganga ghat.
Q: Have you seen any noticeable change in the behavior of people?
A: It is coming up, yes. Namami Gange started working in a mission mode in 2016 and the body got power to execute changes on the ground. An example of this change is the Prayagraj Kumbh in 2019. Government was expecting 7.5 crore pilgrims to attend it. Mind you this was an Ardh Kumbh and not a full Kumbh, however, 20 crore pilgrims attended it. The PM himself took a bath in the river. This indicates the trust of people in the water and how its quality has increased. I am not talking in terms of numbers like BOD or other similar scientific terms, but the fact that people perceived that the water in Ganga was clean. For me, the measure is not just in scientific numbers.
Q: You have stated that there are many stakeholders involved in this project, including different state governments. Are you getting the kind of cooperation from these entities that you require? A: Yes, we are. This is a 100% central government funded project. We need the state governments’ cooperation in executing the scheme on the ground. We give them technical, financial support. States are cooperating. The states realize that they themselves cannot do this mammoth task alone. In fact, we are going beyond limiting ourselves to doing capital investment; we are giving the maintenance also. The companies who set up the STPS will now be doing its maintenance for 15 years, for which we are providing the financial assistance. We are giving money to set up and maintain STPS. In a period of 5-6 years, we believe the local bodies will own up this task of cleaning and keeping Ganga clean.
Q: Why is the body also moving beyond Ganga preservation and focusing on rejuvenation of rivers?
A:
See, the rivers will only survive when there is water in it. So, river rejuvenation is an important task. We have started a campaign, “Catch the river, where it falls, when it falls”. It is about decentralized storage of water. Storing water in dams has its own ecological drawbacks and other issues. In this campaign, we are encouraging the storage of water, wherever it is, through people’s participation. We have done about 48 lakh structures water storage exercises in about 7 months’ time, probably the largest such exercise taken across in the world.
Q: Are other rivers also going to be given the same care and concern like the Yamuna maybe? A: Yes. Yamuna is a part of Ganga. Our initial thrust was to clean the main river. To ensure that it remains clean, we need to ensure that its tributaries, too, are clean. Now we are focusing on these tributaries. Yamuna is one of the major tributaries. Actually, Yamuna water, when it joins the Ganga, dilutes the pollution that is in the Ganga.
In fact, I am starting a new campaign, Ngyodha (Namami Gange Yamuna of Delhi area) that will focus on cleaning Yamuna. We are building 1200 MLD capacity STPS as a part of this. By December 2022, these STPS will be operational. I am very happy to share that we completed 380 MLD capacity STP last month. Another will be completed by December. So, Delhi will have 1200 MLD STPS built by Namami Gange.
As part of our “Gyan Ganga” initiative, we are sharing the experience, lessons that we have gained so far in this endeavour with all other stakeholders in other states so that other rivers too can be cleaned and rejuvenated. This has been one of the most challenging assignments for me because of the reasons shared earlier, but I can say with utmost confidence that I have got all the support that is required to make and keep the Ganga clean. The only thing is that we have, over the years, lost respect for the river and water, which is something that needs to be changed. The value of water needs to be understood by people.