Seven projects worth Rs 692 crore were approved in the 50th meeting of the Executive Committee of the National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) which was chaired by DG, NMCG, G. Asok Kumar. Out of the seven approved projects, four relate to sewage management in the state of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. A total of 452 projects worth around Rs 38,126 crore have been sanctioned by the MNCG so far. Out of this 254 have been completed.
Projects in UP
In Uttar Pradesh, three projects worth Rs 661.74 crore have been approved for sewage management. These include the creation of a 100 Million Litres per Day (MLD) STP in Lucknow along with Interception and Diversion (I&D) works under Hybrid Annuity Mode (HAM). A Rs 186.47 crore project for I&D of balance discharge of Dariyabad Pipalghat and Dariyabad Kakahraghat drains and construction of a 50 MLD STP in Prayagraj was also approved in the NMCG meeting. This will augment the existing treatment capacity of Naini STP in sewerage district-A in Prayagraj to 80 MLD. A smaller project will see 6 MLD STP, I&D and other works come up in Hapur to stop the flow of city drain into River Kali.
Projects in Bihar
In case of Bihar, two STPs (5 and 7 MLDs) worth Rs 74.64 crore for tapping Pipra ghat drain and Chhatiya ghat drain respectively along with I&D works saw getting clearance in the meeting for Raxual. The project aims to lessen the pollution in Sirsiya River which enters Bihar at Raxaul.
Marking a crucial step for effective management of water in urban areas, a project which will see the preparation of 60-70 Urban River Management Plans (URMPs) in two phases was approved with a Rs 20-crore cost.
In the first year, 25 URMPs will be prepared, while 35 URMPs will be prepared during the second year. In the first phase, 25 cities will be covered. These cities are from five main stem Ganga basin states: Dehradun, Haridwar, Rishikesh, Haldwani & Nainital in Uttarakhand; Lucknow, Varanasi, Agra, Saharanpur & Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh; Patna, Darbhanga, Gaya, Purnea and Katihar in Bihar; Ranchi, Adityapur, Medininagar, Giridih and Dhanbad in Jharkhand and Asansol, Durgapur, Siliguri, Nabadwip and Howrah in West Bengal. This project falls under the River-Cities Alliance (RCA) under Namami Gange and will be funded by the World Bank. The RCA started with 30 members in 2021 and has over 140 members now. This includes international cities as well.
A project of a kind
Another project was approved in the meeting which is worth Rs 6.86 crore. This is a first-of-its-kind project. The meeting approved the initiation of M.Sc. Course in Freshwater Ecology and Conservation at Ganga Aqualife Conservation Monitoring Centre, Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun for 10 years. It aims to train a new generation of field researchers and ecologists in India. It will offer a two-year Course in Freshwater Ecology and Conservation spanning four semesters.