Nitin Gadkari, Minister for Water Resources, River Development & Ganga Rejuvenation, Shipping, Road Transport & Highways carried out an extensive and in depth review yesterday, of each ongoing project under the Namami Gange Program in the states of Uttarakhand, Jharkhand, Bihar, and West Bengal. Shri U.P Singh, Secretary, WR, RD & GR, Shri Rajiv Ranjan Mishra, Director General, National Mission for Clean Ganga, officials of NMCG and the respective state governments and the contractors executing each project were present at the review. The undergoing projects of Uttar Pradesh will also be reviewed shortly.Shri Gadkari directed all stakeholders to expedite the execution of the projects and take proactive steps to resolve bottlenecks wherever they exist. On conclusion of the review he said, “I am happy to see that work is being carried out on a war footing and the Namami Gange Program is going to be very successful. We have also issued the notification for Aviral Ganga, to ensure uninterrupted flow of water in the river.
We are constructing STPs and connecting house drainage to sewer lines. Once the projects are completed we will see remarkable change in water quality. The construction of Ghats and Crematoria are also going on and we will complete them by March 2019.”He further added, “Some projects have been completed, some are under progress and tenders for some projects have been issued. I am hopeful that we will complete 70-80 per cent work in the Namami Gange Program by March 2019.”National Mission for Clean Ganga has sanctioned over 288 projects on Ganga in the states of Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh,Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal. The projects include sewage treatment infrastructure, development of ghats and crematoria, afforestation, river surface cleaning and river front development. Projects have also been sanctioned for some tributaries of Ganga in Haryana, Delhi, UP and Bihar. The Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation carries out periodic review of all projects to ensure their early completion.
The status of projects in the states reviewed yesterday is as follows:
UTTARAKHAND
32 sewerage infrastructure projects (STPs) have been sanctioned in the state, which include Haridwar (4 projects), Muni Ki Reti, Tapovan, Rishikesh ( 2 projects), Devprayag, Tehri, Uttarkashi, Gangotri, Kirtinagar, Srinagar, Rudraprayag, Karnaprayag, Nandproyag, Chamoli-Gopeshwar, Joshimath, Badrinath and Dehradun. Out of these, 15 projects have been completed, 16 are in various stages of progress and one project is under tendering process. 21 Ghats and 23 Crematoria have been sanctioned, along with 1 River Front Development (RFD) project at Chandi Ghat. Out of these projects 10 Ghats and 9 Crematoria have been completed and work is going on at a fast pace on the other projects.
JHARKHAND
Two sewerage infrastructure projects have been sanctioned at Sahibganj and Rajmahal towns in the state. Both projects are in progress.12 Ghats and two Crematoria have also been sanctioned. Out of these, three Ghats and one crematorium have been completed. Work on other project is progressing ahead of schedule.
BIHAR
21 sewerage infrastructure projects have been sanctioned in Bihar. Of these, 11 projects are at Beur, Saidpur, Karmalichak, Kankarbagh, Digha and Pahari in Patna. The other STPs have been sanctioned at Buxar, Naugachia, Barh, Sultanganj, Mokama, Hajipur, Begusarai, Bhagalpur, Sonepur and Munger. 13 STPs in Bihar are at various stages of progress. Tenders for 4 projects have been received and are under evaluation while 3 projects are under tendering and 1 project is to be tendered.one River Front Development (RFD) project at Patna, 14 Ghats and one Crematorium have been sanctioned and are under construction. In addition, 23 ghats and 2 crematoria have been sanctioned and are currently underway.
WEST BENGAL
16 sewerage infrastructure projects have been sanctioned at Gayeshpur, Kalyani, Bhatpara, Halishahar, Barrackpore, Budge-Budge, Nabadwip, Behrampore, Jangipur, Howrah, Bally, Kamarhati, Baranagar, Kolkata ( Tolly Nullah, Garden Reach ) Maheshtala, Hoogli-Chinsurah. Out of these, the STPs at Gayeshpur, Kalyani, Bhatpara have been completed and work is in progress for Halishahar, Barrackpore and Budge-Budge projects. In addition tenders for 3 projects have been received and are under evaluation, while 5 projects are under tendering and 2 projects are to be tendered.In addition to the STPs, 16 Ghats and 3 Crematoria projects have been sanctioned in the state and are currently under construction.