Union minister of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation Sushri Uma Bharti has said that no decision about Ganga rejuvenation will be taken by the centre without taking into confidence the concerned States. Addressing the fourth meeting of the National Ganga River Basin Authority here today she said a committee comprising additional secretaries of ministry of Environment and Water Resources has been asked to study and give its suggestions on the recommendations of Chopra committee, Chaturvedi committee and IIT committee. Sushri Bharti said this committee will recommend e-flow of rivers from the existing Dams and dams to be constructed in future. The Minister said henceforth meetings of the authority will be held at least once in three month. Sushri Bharti also asked States to hold meeting of State Programme Monitoring Groups (SPMG) on regular basis and requested them to hold its next meeting within a month. The Minister also requested the States to fillup the vacant post in SPMGs on priority.
She said a national volunteer force called Ganga Vahini will be set up on the pattern of red cross. This force will comprise youth, students, ex-servicemen and others and will spread the message of Ganga rejuvenation all over the country. The meeting was also attended by Union Environment Minister Shri Prakash Javadekar, Union Surface Transport Minister Shri Nitin Gadkari, Union Power Minister Shri Piyush Goyal, Union Science and Technology Minister Dr Jitendra Singh, Chief Minister of Uttrakhand Shri Harish Rawat and Water Resources Ministers of UP, Bihar and West Bengal besides other senior officials and experts.