If speculations are to be believed, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is not happy with the performance of Water Resources Minister Uma Bharti on cleaning river Ganga. The speculations stem from the fact that the Prime Minister’s Office (Office) has proposed to elevate the status of National Mission on Clean Ganga (NMCG) to an ‘authority’, according to a report published in the ‘Delhi Confidential’ section of the Indian Express (IE) today. At present, NMCG is an integral part of the ministry. The daily says that the proposal is being seen as the “PMO’s continued no-confidence” in Bharati’s performance on clean Ganga, which is one of the many missions of PM Modi.
In the last over two years of NDA government at the Centre, the NMCG has not been able to make some substantial progress in the mission. Last month, the National Green Tribunal noted that the efforts put in by the Centre and the UP government for cleaning Ganga have given “zero result”. The tribunal pulled up Ministries of Environment and Forests, Water Resources, Central Pollution Control Board and other authorities for not coming up with a “clear stand” with regard to the cleaning of Ganga.
The elevation of NMCG, which implements all projects related to river Ganga, into an authority will strengthen it with the powers to enforce pollution laws and penalise defaulters.
At present, NMCG is registered as a society and serves as the implementing body of the National Ganga River Basin Authority (NGRBA), which is the highest policy-making body on river Ganga headed by the PM.
