Not A Drop Of The Ganga Has Been Cleaned, Where The Money Is Going: NGT

The National Green Tribunal criticised the Government agencies for wasting public money in the name of cleaning the Ganges. The Tribunal told the Center, “Not a single drop of river Ganga has been cleaned so far,” as reported by The Hindu.

The bench headed by Justice Swatanter Kumar, NGT Chairperson, asked the government authorities to work together for the cause saying that the Prime Minister has given them a goal, so they should take it as a national project. The tribunal asked the government agencies to work in collaboration, and further added that they do not need any “drama” regarding complaints between Centre and the state of Uttar Pradesh.

“It is the fault of Central Pollution Control Board and other government agencies who are not doing their job properly. Had the authorities done their job properly, they would not be standing before the court. The authorities have done nothing. It is a misuse of public money, and everyone says that they are doing a lot to clean the Ganges, but not a single drop of the river has been cleaned,” says the NGT Bench as reported by The Hindu.

The centre has allocated over Rs 2,000 crore under the “Namami Gange” programme for the purpose of cleaning the Ganges. Further, the tribunal has also warned around 14 industrial units operating in Amroha and Bijnor districts, along with those operating on the banks of the river, to be prepared for the shutdown, while questioning them to justify why they should not face action.

“National Mission For Clean Ganga”
National Mission for cleaning Ganga is a registered society which aims to ensure effective reduction of pollution and rejuvenation of the river by adopting a river basin approach to promoting inter-sectoral coordination for comprehensive planning and management. The main aim of the NMCG is to maintain environmental flows in the river while ensuring water quality and environmentally sustainable development.

Environmentalists’ Take
Reputed water conservationist Rajendra Singh says that distributing money for setting up Sewage Treatment Plants won’t bring good results unless national protocol to stop sewage water from entering into the rivers is followed.

Environmentalist CR Babu concurred saying that all the rivulets that are flowing in the Gangetic plain only carry sewage. No river can be cleaned until simultaneous efforts are made, as reported by Economic Times.

The Ganges
The Ganges or Ganga is a river considered as holiest of rivers by Hindus. It flows from the Himalayas to the Bay of Bengal, covering around 2,525 km across five states. Despite the Ganga Action Plan launched in 1985, the river remains highly polluted

https://thelogicalindian.com/environment/ganga/