Government Steps Up Efforts for River Cleaning, Ministry of Jal Shakti Leads
Rivers in the country are polluted mainly due to discharge of untreated and partially treated sewage from cities/ towns and industrial effluents in their respective catchments, poor operation and maintenance of sewage/ effluent treatment plants, lack of dilution and non-point sources of pollution like agricultural runoff, open defecation, runoff from solid waste dump sites, etc.
Challenges associated with cleaning of dams include sheer volume and weight of sediment accumulated, ecosystem disruption during de-siltation, remote location of dams, expensive and demanding technology, regulatory & legal issues, etc. Currently, the Dam Rehabilitation and Improvement Project (DRIP) Phase II & III Scheme (2021-31) is being implemented for need-based de-siltation of reservoirs.
It is the primary responsibility of States/ Union Territories (UTs), urban local bodies, industrial units to ensure required treatment of sewage and industrial effluent before discharging into rivers and other recipient water bodies, land or coastal waters for prevention and control of pollution therein.
The Ministry of Jal Shakti has been supplementing efforts of the States/UTs by providing financial and technical assistance for abatement of pollution in the identified stretches of rivers in the country through the Central Sector Scheme of Namami Gange for river Ganga and its tributaries, and the Centrally Sponsored Scheme of National River Conservation Plan (NRCP) for other rivers.
NRCP has so far covered 53 rivers in 98 towns spreading over 17 States in the country with a sanctioned cost of Rs.8649.67 crore, and inter-alia, a sewage treatment capacity of 2910.50 million litres per day (MLD) has been created.
Under Namami Gange programme, a total of 467 projects, including 200 projects for sewage treatment of 6217.15 MLD and a sewer network of 5282.39 kilometers, have been sanctioned at a cost of Rs. 39,080.70 crore against which sewerage treatment capacity of 3241.55 MLD has been created so far.
In addition, sewerage infrastructure projects funded by Government of India under programs like Atal Mission for Rejuvenation & Urban Transformation and Smart Cities Mission of Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs also contribute to cleaning rivers.