‘Treatment of nullah water must to clean Ganga’

VARANASI: Additional director of National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG), Chaman Lal, visited Assi Ghat and other ghats on Friday to inspect nullahs carrying sewage into river, adding to the pollution.
“First we need to figure out the problems which are responsible for pollution of Ganga. Once identified, then the mission will start its work to clean and purify Ganga,” said Lal, while inspecting Assi-Nagwa nullah.“The mission is striving hard to achieve ‘Clean Ganga’ by 2019,” he added.
According to Lal, the Mission Clean Ganga can only be achieved if the waste water of all the nullahs is treated before flowing into the Ganga. “If the waste and sewage water of the nullahs is treated in the sewage treatment plants (STPs) before finding its way into the Ganga, then the chances of pollution of Ganga will be minimized,” he said.
Agreeing on importance of ‘Aviralta’ (free flow of water), Lal said that a proper mechanism to ensure ‘aviralta’ of water will be prepared by the mission after finding out a solution to treat water of nullahs through STPs. “The need of the hour is treatment of the waste water of all the nullahs which are responsible for direct disposal of sewage into the Ganga. The mission will then work to ensure uninterrupted flow of water,” shared Lal.
Revealing impending plans to clean river Ganga, he said that a special ‘Task Force’ will be constituted which will work for cleanliness of the Ganga. “This task force will play a vital role in maintenance of clean Ganga in the future,” said Lal, who expressed his inability to reveal further details of Task Force.
Later, he also met mayor Ramgopal Mohley and other officials of Varanasi Municipal Corporation (VMC) including municipal commissioner Umakant Tripathi and chief engineer Kailash Singh.
Earlier on Thursday, Lal visited Chowkaghat and Dinapur STP with officials of UP Jal Nigam, Ganga Pollution Control Board and Pollution Control Board. He also visited old STPs and the site where an STP is being constructed with Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) funding. In evening, he held a closed-door meeting with officials of agencies concerned and sought information on discharge of sewage into Ganga through 26 nullahs.
NMCG is the implementation wing of National Ganga River Basin Authority (NGRBA) under the Government of India. NGRBA was set up in 2009 to achieve Mission Clean Ganga by 2020. It was to be ensured that by 2020 no untreated municipal sewage and industrial effluent drained into the Ganga and the investment required to create necessary treatment and sewerage infrastructure to be shared suitably by the Central and state governments. Modi government also came up with ‘Namami Gange’ programme, an integrated Ganga conservation mission, for which a sum of Rs 2,037 crore was set aside in Union budget 2014-15.