Three Members Resigned from National Ganga River Basin Authority (NGRBA)

Three expert members- Rajendra Singh, Ravi Chopra and Rashid Siddiqui resigned from the National Ganga River Basin Authority (NGRBA) on 20 September 2013.

The National Ganga River Basin Authority (NGRBA), which was constituted with the objective of protecting the Ganga from pollution and overuse. The National Ganga River Basin Authority is chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

The members were distressed over the fact that the National Ganga River Basin Authority has not met since 17 April 2012, especially in wake of continued government apathy about 101st day of professor GD Agrawal’s fast for Ganga, three of its expert non-official members have resigned.

About the National Ganga River Basin Authority (NGRBA)

The Government of India constituted the National Ganga River Basin Authority (NGRBA), on 20 February 2009, for the comprehensive management of the river. The NGRBA will adopt a river-basin approach and has been given a multi-sector mandate to address both water quantity and quality aspects.

The Prime Minister of India is ex-officio Chairperson of the Authority, and it has as its members, the Union Ministers Concerned and the Chief Ministers of states through which Ganga flows, viz., Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal, among others.

The objective of the Authority is to ensure effective abatement of pollution and conservation of the river Ganga by adopting a holistic approach with the river basin as the unit of planning.

The functions of the Authority include all measures necessary for planning and execution of programmes for abatement of pollution in the Ganga in keeping with sustainable development needs.