GANGA-RAMESH 2LAST

In 1985, the then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi had
launched a grand Ganga clean-up project -- Ganga Action Plan.
But the river remains heavily polluted even after 24 years of
the implementation of the project, Ramesh said.

"We have made a fresh proposal to the 13th Finance
Commission stating that the costs of operating and maintaining
sewage treatment plants (STPs) along the Ganga river be borne
by the Centre," he said.
A number of STPs built under the Ganga Action Plan-I and
II were not operating to their full capacity due to financial
constraints of municipal bodies. The move would give breathing
time to reform their finances.
Asked about the failure of the Ganga Action Plans, the
minister said GAP-I and GAP-II were initiated to control
direct discharge of sewage and industrial effluent into the
river from 29 major and 23 small cities as well as 48 towns
from the states of Uttarakhand to West Bengal.
He said about 260-crore litre of untreated sewage and
effluent is discharged into the river daily and the NGOs
working to save the Ganga and the Centre are concerned the
most on this issue.
Ramesh during his visit to the Ganga ghats, pulled up
Municipal Commissioner Nand Kishore for their poor
maintenance. PTI IKD
RDM


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