Surface cleaning of Ganga to commence from next month

New Delhi: The surface cleaning of river Ganga, including removal of solid waste such as clothes, parts of dead bodies, will commence from next month, a Parliamentary panel has been informed.

Union Water Resources Minister Uma Bharti told the committee attached to her ministry that surface cleaning of Ganga will start next month in 10 cities of Haridwar, Garhmukteshwar, Kanpur, Allahabad, Varanasi, Patna, Sahibganj, Kolkata, Nabadwip and Gangasagar under the 'Namami Gange' programme.

In the meeting held last evening, Bharti said trial of surface cleaning has already started in Varanasi which has been assigned to Tata Projects Ltd under corporate social responsibility scheme.

She said NTPC, ONGC, and Petronet have expressed their willingness to fund the project.

Referring to the progress of sewage treatment under Namami Gange the Minister informed that so far 29 projects have been completed at a cost of Rs 463.58 crore with the treatment capacity of 123mld and sewer network of 666.69 km.

A total of 93 projects have been sanctioned at the cost of Rs 1502.66 crore. This will result in the creation of treatment capacity of 858mld and sewer network of 3623.10 km.

Referring to the progress made in River Front/Ghat Development projects, Bharti informed the Parliamentary panel that development of four ghats out of 20 in Patna was completed last month.

She said work at Chandighat (Haridwar), Chhath Ghat (Delhi) and Sahibganj will begin next month. The minister said detailed project reports for Kedarnath, Allahabad, Kanpur, Kolkata and Rishikesh are under preparation.

Parliamentary Consultative Committees of various ministries are chaired by their respective Cabinet ministers.