India Signed Three Agreements with the World Bank for Cleaning the Ganga River

India signed three agreements with the World Bank for cleaning the Ganga River on 14 June 2011. Besides this, the agreement also held for strengthening Rural Livelihoods and Biodiversity Conservation of India. The World Bank agreed to provide one billion US Dollars (approximately Rs 4,600 crore) for the Ganga river cleaning project. It also agreed for a credit worth approximately 24 million dollars for the two projects, i.e. strengthening Rural Livelihoods and Biodiversity Conservation of India. The agreements for the Biodiversity Conservation and Rural Livelihood Improvement Project were signed by Mr. Venu Rajamony, Joint Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance, on behalf of the Government of India, and Mr. Roberto Zagha, World Bank Country Director in India in presence of Mr Jairam Ramesh, Minister Environment and Forests, Government of India.

The Ganga faces great challenges from expanding population, urbanization and industrial growth. To stop the flow of untreated municipal sewage and industrial effluent into the Ganga river by 2020 is the objective of Ganga project.

The World Bank has been a major financier of biodiversity projects globally. With the assistance of the World Bank, an empowered and collaborative body of the Central and state governments, National Ganga River Basin Authority (NGRBA) decided to implement the National Ganga River Basin Project. The focus of the project is on (1) building and strengthening the National Ganga River Basin Authority’s (NGRBA) related institutions at the Central and state level;  (2) establishing a world-class Ganga Knowledge Centre; (3) enhancing river basin management; and (4) financing select priority investments to reduce point-source pollution in a sustainable manner. A complete new model of managing the protected areas while safeguarding the livelihoods of local communities is set to put in place in two protected areas, one each in Uttarakhand and Gujarat.