Namami Gange: River Polluters Can't Go Scot Free; ISRO Powered App on Cards

In a determined bid to combat pollution in the river Ganga, a highly sophisticated digital system will be launched shortly to pin down habitual polluters by involving people in river front cities.

            Highly placed sources told UNI that an app, using state-of-the-art technology, has been developed with the help of ISRO (Indian Space Research Organization) to involve people who can now click pictures of polluters-mainly industry, habitual offenders and other source of pollution by their mobiles and upload same on the new app for action.

The ambitious Namami Gange project officials will soon initiate action on the visual which through the satellite system is set to pin the location for swift and suitable action.
Once the picture of polluted stretch is uploaded, officials said, it could not be erased and would have comprehensive details like location, date and time.

Officials said it would be launched within a month as all preparations have been completed.
The GIS based system will replace monitoring on papers to digital platforms.

Officials, involved in the ambitious Namami Gange project, said the App would help in monitoring of work on the project too besides mega planning of further action plans.
Besides this, plans are afoot to start surface cleaning of rivers and ghats in eight cities like Kanpur, Allahabad, Varanasi, Patna, Sahib Ganj, Haridwar, Vrindavan, Mathura and Nabadwip from next month. Volunteers will involved in the project besides massive usage of trash skimmer, aerators and several other machines.

A visiting UNI correspondent in the river banks cities found that locals were enthused about the cleaning projects, but confidence still eludes them in the wake of previous experiences and fate of plans.

Informatively, the swirling Ganga used to bathe ghats of Kanpur, situated on the left bank of river, and the city, known as Manchester of India, was an affluent trade center a few decades ago but now a trickle of polluted river touches the ghats and the city is now known as country’s erstwhile Manchester and virtual industrial graveyard with almost all big textile units located within city limits wearing deserted and ghostly look.

Boats, loaded with water melons, do not have smooth sail after loading the deep green tarboojas, also known as “Kalinda”, from other side of the river in Ganga Katri area, sand swathes are bigger than the river, getting polluted by every passing day, says 65-year-old boatman in historic Bithoor ‘s Balmiki Ashram. He says such projects have generated lot of interests and all eyes are riveted towards ghats.

Situation is no better at other cities, located on the river bank, and even majestic look of ghats of once Benaras is also under the threat due to growing pollution in the river which, is not that clean and mighter even in Haridwar. Ever since Prime Minister Narendra Modi got elected from the city of ghats and Lord Shiva temples, the river’s cleaning is top on agenda and a whopping fund of Rs 20,000 crore has been earmarked for the ambitious project to get it cleaned within five years.

Several crore rupees were spent earlier on the Ganga action plan (GAP) over decades but the river remained polluted. The river Ganga came into focus when the Prime Minister landed in Varanasi to file his nomination asserting Maa Ganaga has called him and vowed that the country’s rivers had to be depolluted to inject life in the river front cities while restoring rivers’ pristine glory.

Pandas, holy priest and guides,at Varanasi ghats, Haridwar and many other cities are pinning hopes on the Namami Gange project which promises clean river within five years.

''Namami Gange'' is an integrated Ganga conservation mission under National Ganga River basin authority of the Ministry of Water Resources and River development.
It is to invoke nature conservation for improved livelihood with a boost to job & irrigation.

If pilgrim spots are conventionally meant to refresh the visitor’s mind, then new-age India is churning up a mega mission that aims to realise the noble objective—by first ensuring an ideal ambience. Quite a few holy places upcountry are poised to gain a grand ‘arati’ glow themselves, courtesy a new five-year plan that will effectively be a cleanliness drive from up a Himalayan glacier down to the Bay of Bengal. The Union government is all set to pump in an unprecedentedly huge amount to clean up the country’s holiest of rivers that emerges from the icy Gomukh almost bordering China and empties into the Sunderbans delta that spills over to Bangladesh.

The Ganga, which is ironically also the world’s fifth most polluted river, now floats hopes of regaining its grandeur and sanctity by year 2020. But there is much more to it than spirituality or even religiousness. True, ‘Namami Gange’ seeks to clear the river of all the dirt and row in a string of projects to sustain its efficacy.

The three-tier mechanism will monitor the projects, with a high- level task force chaired by the Cabinet Secretary and assisted by NMCG (National Mission for Clean Ganga) at the national level, state-level committees headed by the Chief Secretary and assisted by State Programme Management Groups and district-level committees chaired by the Collector.
Apart from the Rs 20,000-crore outlay, which the Cabinet cleared at a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi a fortnight ago, it is in addition to Rs 2,307 crore the government sanctioned in July last year at the launch of the endeavour.

The newly-cleared amount is in itself significant. For, it is five times above the expenditure the government has allocated for cleaning the Ganga in the past three decades, according to an official release.

Statistics show that Rs 4,000 crore was what the Rajiv Gandhi regime in 1985 decided to spend under its newly-launched Ganga Action Plan—with an initial Rs 462-crore instalment.
Today, the government has invited global tenders for river-surface cleaning at a dozen chosen cities: Haridwar, Varanasi, Allahabad, Mathura, Vrindavan, Garhmukteshwar, Kolkata, Sahibgunj and Nabadwip along with Patna, Kanpur and Delhi as well.

Set to directly benefit 47 towns and 12 rivers in eight states, the project targets to also make 1,632 villages along the Ganga free from open defecation by 2022. For this, the Centre has envisaged Rs 1,700 crore even as ministries like Environment, Shipping, Urban Development, Tourism, Rural Development are working with the nodal Water Resources Ministry to undertake projects. After all, the Ganga is India’s largest river basin, with a catchment area that constitutes 26% of the country’s land mass and supports about 43% of its population spread over 11 states. Evidently, it is not just pilgrim towns that will benefit from Namami Gange. As far as ghat development goes, the government is allotting Rs 250 crore for the beautification and management of the river fronts, but what takes the chunk of the expense is going to be sewerage infrastructure (Rs 8,000 crore) and containing industrial pollution (Rs 1,000).

Substantiating, the Prime Minister says these are places also known for their historical heritage besides being considered sacred by the majority Hindu population. Not to be left behind in the effort is the expatriate Indian community, points out Mr Modi. “We need to shore up their sentiments towards the country’s holiest of rivers,” he adds, revealing the government’s plan of an ‘NRI Fund for Ganga’ that would finance special projects.
          Even back in India, it isn’t just the bountiful money that adds to the value of the project. Namami Gange has roped in experts, NGOs and other stake-holders to better its efficacy vis-a-vis the previous endeavour, reveals Union Water Resources Minister Uma Bharti.

“All the same, it’s the union government alone shoring up the funds,” Ms Bharti notes about the project, even as the Ganga flows across five states (Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal) besides parts of Bangladesh during its 2,525-km course.
Even so, a Clean Ganga Fund is already functional to encourage public participation and donation. Already,

Rs 50 crore is in as contribution, according to an official source. Given that the river, the country’s third largest by water-discharge levels, has as many as 18 tributaries along its left and right, the present government has further realised the need to treat their effluents as well. “See, the Yamuna is the most important tributary of the Ganga. Only a joint project that conceives and executes a clean-up of both these rivers can ensure sustained cleanliness of the holy river,” adds Bharti, An MP from Bundelkhand’s Jhansi—a city standing by the Pahuj River that later joins the Yamuna.

Inland water navigation, too, is set to get a boost. For instance, there will be an Rs 4,200-crore ‘Jal Marg Vikas’ (National Waterways-I) developed between UP’s Allahabad and Haldia in West Bengal, covering 1,620 km along the river in the next six years. The expected result is commercial navigation facilitating the plying of no less than 1,500-tonne vessels.
As many as 764 grossly-polluting industrial units have already been identified in all the five states along which the Ganga flows. Out of this, inspection is over for 727 units, which have been directed to submit an action plan each to control pollution by this June 30.

Also, there is a Ganga Knowledge Centre set up at the four-year-old NMGC, the implementation wing of National Ganga River Basin Authority under the aegis of Ministry of Environment,Forests and Climate Change. Now, it has a portal as well.
A consortium of seven of the country’s IITs is being engaged in the preparation of Ganga river basin management plan, which pegs the estimated expense to cleanse the Ganga of the sewage, industrial effluents and solid waste at Rs 6.5-lakh crore. On these, 36 thematic reports have been submitted. As of now, 76 projects have been approved at a cost of Rs 4974.79 crore for creating treatment capacity of 678.23 MLD (million of litres per day) and a sewer network spanning 2,546 km. Under this, Rs 1,000.07 crore has been spent for completing treatment capacity of 123 MLD and 572 kms of sewer network.

As for lifting irrigational facilities, out of 30 ILR (interlinking of rivers) projects that have been identified, the implementation of Ken - Betwa is taken up on priority. DPRs have been completed for three projects, while feasibility reports have been prepared for 16 links and draft feasibility reports in respect of seven other links.
The plan has prompted some states to urge the Centre to bring some of the Ganga’s subsidiary rivers under the umbrella of Namami Gange, so as to restore its original flow. Bihar, through which the river flows a stretch of 445 km, wants its subsidiary rivers such Gandak, Budhi Gandak, Ghagra, Bagmati, Kamla Balan, Kosi, Karmnasa, Sone and Punpun contribute three-fourth of the water to the Ganga during lean season.

Nitish Kumar, the eastern state’s Chief Minister, bemoans that the upper co-basin states use more than their due share of Ganga water at the cost of Bihar. Also, “we would want a consolidated plan for sewerage network along with sewage treatment facilities, given such projects get delayed for clearance of funds from different ministries,” he adds.
A few nature-conservation outfits, too, aren’t entirely happy with Namami Gange. Yamuna Jiye Abhiyan, for instance, finds it devoid of plans on improving the ecological health of the river. “What’s more, there is no reference to the recommendations of the IIT Consortium (of the institutes in Bombay, Delhi, Madras, Kanpur, Kharagpur, Guwahati and Roorkee), as had been promised to the Supreme Court,” says the NGO’s convenor Manoj Misra.

Ashok Singhal of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, which is ideologically considered aligned to the Bharatiya Janata Party ruling at the Centre, sprang a surprise late last week, questioning the efficacy of Namami Gange and even saying it should be scrapped.
On the positive side, though, an internet-based has been launched on Water Resources Information System on Geographical Information System platform. Named INDIA-WRIS, it aims at developing a robust information system on water resources in the country.

“In an attempt to bolster enforcement, the Centre also plans to establish a 4-battalion Ganga Eco-Task Force, a Territorial Army unit, apart from contemplating a legislation that aims to check pollution and protect the river,” according to an official release on the Cabinet decision.
Aspiring for its invigoration, the Center is to own up 100 per cent funding of various activities or projects. “Taking a leaf from the unsatisfactory results of the earlier Ganga Action Plans, the Center also plans to provide for operation and maintenance of the assets for a minimum 10-year period, and adopt a PPP/SPV approach for