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National River Conservation Plan
The Central Government has allocated funds to various States under the National River Conservation Plan (NRCP) for river water cleaning during
the past three years. The Centrally sponsored scheme of National River Conservation Plan (NRCP) covers polluted stretches of 39 rivers in 185
towns spread over 20 States. The Central Government supplements the efforts of the State Governments in river conservation by undertaking
pollution abatement works on a cost sharing basis under the Plan. An
expenditure of Rs.4475 crore has been incurred and sewage treatment capacity of 4417 million litres per day (mld) has been created so far. A
statement indicating the State-wise details of funds released during the last three years under the Plan is at Annexure.
External assistance from bilateral/ multilateral agencies is availed of
from time to time by the Government. For the Yamuna Action Plan (YAP) Phase-I, loan assistance of Yen 17.77 billion was provided by the Japan
International Cooperation Agency (JICA), Government of Japan and an assistance of Yen 13.33 billion is being availed for YAP Phase-II from
the agency. JICA has agreed to provide a loan assistance of Yen 32.571 billion for the next phase of the Programme.
For pollution abatement of the river Ganga at Varanasi, an assistance of 11.184 billion Yen is being availed from JICA. A project with World Bank
assistance for abatement of pollution of river Ganga at an estimated cost of Rs.7000 crore has been approved in April, 2011. The World Bank
will provide financial assistance of US $ 1 billion for the project. This information was given by the Minister of State for Environment and
Forests (independent charge) Shrimati Jayanthi Natarajan in a written reply in Rajya Sabha on August 02, 2011.
Ganga Action Plan
The Central Government has approved a project in April 2011, under the
National Ganga River Basin Authority for abatement of pollution of river Ganga with World Bank assistance at an estimated cost of Rs.7000
crore. The World Bank will provide financial assistance of US $ 1 billion. The
principal objective of the project is to fund creation of pollution abatement infrastructure for conservation and restoration of water
quality of the river.
The Central Government has been implementing Ganga Action Plan (GAP)
since 1985. The pollution abatement works taken up under the Plan include interception and diversion of raw sewage, setting up of sewage
treatment plants, creation of low cost sanitation facilities etc. An expenditure of Rs. 896.05 crore has been incurred so far under this Plan
and sewage treatment capacity of 1064 mld (million litres per day) has been created.
Water quality monitoring of Ganga by independent institutions shows improvement in river water quality over pre-GAP period in terms of
indicators such as Bio-chemical Oxygen Demand (BOD) and Dissolved Oxygen
(DO) at many major locations. However, in some locations like Kannauj, Kanpur, Allahabad and Varanasi, water quality in terms of biological
oxygen demand (BOD) is not conforming to the bathing quality standards prescribed by the Central Pollution Control Board.
Under GAP, 35 schemes for pollution abatement of river Ganga in Kanpur
have been sanctioned at a cost of Rs.145.43 crore, out of which 30 schemes have been completed and a treatment capacity of 171 mld has been
created. This information was given by the Minister of State for Environment and
Forests (independent charge) Shrimati Jayanthi Natarajan in a written
reply to a question in Rajya Sabha on August 3, 2011.
Minister of State for Environment and Forests Shrimati Jayanthi Natarajan |
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National River Conservation Policy
Pollution load on rivers has increased over the years due to rapid
urbanisation and industrialization. Abstraction of water for irrigation,
drinking, industrial use, power etc. compounds the challenge. Discharge
of untreated wastewater from towns along the rivers constitutes the major source of pollution load in rivers. According to a recent report
of the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), against an estimated sewage generation of about 38254 million litres per day (mld) from the
Class I cities & Class II towns of the country, the available treatment capacity is for 11787 mld.
Conservation of rivers is a collective effort of Central and State Governments and the Central Government is
supplementing the efforts of the State Governments in river conservation through the
Central Plans. Creation of infrastructure for sewage management and
disposal is also being undertaken through other Central schemes, such as
Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission and Urban Infrastructure
Development Scheme for Small and Medium Towns, as well as under state schemes.
The National River Conservation Plan (NRCP) presently covers 39 rivers
in 185 towns in 20 states.**Pollution abatement works taken up under the Plan include interception and diversion of raw sewage, setting up of
Sewage Treatment Plants etc. A Sewage treatment capacity of 4417 million litres per day (mld) has been created so far under the Plan.
Details of funds released state-wise under NRCP till March, 2011 are given at Annexure.
With the pollution abatement works completed so far, despite significant increase in urbanization, industrialization and
growth in population in cities along the banks of river, the water quality in terms of Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD) values for major
rivers is reported to have improved as compared to the water quality
before taking up pollution abatement works under NRCP, based on independent monitoring undertaken by reputed institutions.The Central Government has constituted the National Ganga
River Basin Authority (NGRBA) in February, 2009 as an empowered
authority for conservation of the river Ganga by adopting a holistic
approach. A project with World Bank assistance for abatement of pollution of river Ganga at an estimated cost of Rs.7000 crore has been
approved in April, 2011. |
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Details of funds released state-wise under the National River Conservation
Plan (till March, 2011)
(Rs. in crore)
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S.No.
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State
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Funds
Released
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1
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Andhra Pradesh
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259.80
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2
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Bihar
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92.07
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3
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Jharkhand
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4.45
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4
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Gujarat
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90.05
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5
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Goa
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9.26
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6
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Karnataka
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47.83
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7
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Maharastra
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123.72
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8
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Madhya Pradesh
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79.00
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9
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Orissa
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56.41
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10
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Punjab
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228.80
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11
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Rajasthan
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21.12
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12
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Tamilnadu
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623.65
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13
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Delhi
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417.07
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14
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Haryana
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231.61
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15
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Uttar Pradesh
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1107.82
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16
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Uttrakhand
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81.20
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17
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West Bengal
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656.22
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18
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Kerala
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2.78
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19
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Sikkim
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59.46
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20
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Nagaland
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4.50
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Total
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4196.82
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This information was given by the Minister of State for Environment and
Forests (Independent Charge) Shrimati Jayanthi Natarajan in a written
reply to a question by ShriMeghraj Jain and Shri Raghunandan Sharma
in Rajya Sabha on September 6, 2011 |
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