The Union Government on 22 September 2014 placed a blueprint of short, medium and long term measures to restore the glory of the river Ganga before the Supreme Court of India. The blueprint submitted in the court spreads over 18 years and investment of thousands of crore rupees.
The affidavit of the blueprint for Ganga rejuvenation was submitted by the Union Government after the Supreme Court of India on 13 August 2014 asked the Union Government to come up with a stage-wise road-map to make river Ganga pollution free.
Brief outline of the action plan on rejuvenation of River Ganga
The government in its affidavit of action plan envisages phase wise rejuvenation of the Ganga. It has divided the time line into terms and the terms are
- Short term – a period of three years
- Medium term – a period of next five years
- Long term – a period of next ten years and more
First, the Union Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation has identified seven river fronts namely Kedarnath, Haridwar, Varanasi, Kanpur, Allahabad, Patna and Delhi for development of Ghats.
In medium term, Union Ministry of Urban Development has identified 118 urban habitations to extend the coverage of sewage infrastructure. It also has plans to make 1649 number of gram panchayat located on Ganga free from open defecation. The total cost entailed to achieve these medium term goals has been kept at 51000 crore rupees.
The long term plan that would emerge from the Ganga River Basin Management Plan would be prepared by consortium of seven IITs for restoring wholesomeness of river Ganga in terms of defining concept of ensuring nirmal dhara, aviral dhara and maintaining the geological and ecological integrity of the river.
The time line for completion of ongoing projects had been prepared in consultation with five Ganga basin states which are primarily responsible for implementation of projects for rejuvenation of the 2500 kilometer long Ganga.
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