The Ganga river basin is the largest river basin in India which constitutes 26 per cent of the country’s landmass and currently supports about 43 per cent of the population. The Ganga Basin contributes to 28 per cent of India’s water resources. It also hosts to 97 major urban centres and 4,457 villages. River Ganga is essential for millions of people for their livelihood and economy. With the developmental activities, the River faces critical issue related to pollution and this has accelerated in past few decades and has raised concerns for its existence due to increased anthropogenic activities as well as possible climate change affecting water availability in its catchment.
Namami Gange is a flagship programme of the Government of India for rejuvenation of Ganga and its tributaries. National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) is the implementing authority of this programme. Backed by the vision and priority of Hon’ble Prime Minister Narendra Modi, an integrated programme was launched at a monumental scale of 20,000 crores with assured funding consisting of multi-sectoral, multi-agency and multi-level interventions. A consortium of seven Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), entrusted with developing a holistic Ganga River Basin Management Plan (GRBMP), brought forward the first version of the plan during 2014-15 consolidating at one place, a body of knowledge on different aspects of the basin, identifying challenges and interventions required for its rejuvenation. The plan envisioned a rejuvenated Ganga, restored of its wholesomeness defined in terms of “Nirmal Dhara - unpolluted flow”, “Aviral Dhara- continuous flow” and ensuring the ecological and geological integrity.
Many cities are intrinsically connected to rivers either through wetlands, water bodies, their drainage patterns or or groundwater flow. Rejuvenating water bodies and wetlands can go a long way in reducing the burden on rivers.
Namami Gange is working on an approach drawn from the Integrated River Basin Management Plan with multi-sectoral and multi-agency interventions in a holistic manner. These interventions could broadly be classified into four categories/building blocks.
Pollution abatement (Nirmal Ganga),Improving ecology and flow (Aviral Ganga),Strengthen people river connect (Jan Ganga) andFacilitate diversified research, scientific mapping, studies and evidence-based policy formulation (Gyan Ganga)
Learning from the experience has taught us that business as usual is not going to work and will not help achieve our mission goals. There is a need to move from city-specific planning to basin planning to make our approach a holistic one. A total of 327 projects have been sanctioned in the Ganga basin at a cost of 29,348.49 crores. 138 projects have been completed and the remaining are at various stages of execution. A total of 153 sewerage infrastructure projects has been sanctioned to create 4,837 million litres per day (MLD) treatment capacity in the Ganga basin and 789.90 MLD capacity has already been created and a 5065.37 km sewer network has been laid. In 2014, only 28 projects existed for only 462.85 MLD.
Ganga is host to 97 major urban centres. These centres benefit from the river and are also responsible for the deterioration of Ganga’s water quality. It is necessary to focus on urban wastewater management and improve urban governance. Any improvement in the state of the river cannot be achieved without first addressing the issues and drivers in urban areas. Under the mission, the gap analysis of sewerage generation versus the treatment capacity available, along with condition assessment of old infrastructure was done for the 97 important towns along the river Ganga. The creation of sewerage treatment capacity is not enough, but the operation, maintenance and regular monitoring of the created infrastructure are also crucial in ensuring the sustainability of the projects.
Many cities are intrinsically connected to rivers either through wetlands, water bodies, their drainage patterns or groundwater flow. Rejuvenating water bodies and wetlands can go a long way in reducing the burden on rivers.
Learning from past, Operation & Maintenance (O&M) has been made an integral part of the projects for 15 years. A paradigm shift took place introducing Hybrid Annuity based Public-Private Partnership (PPP) in sewage infrastructure projects. The model is also endorsed by NITI Aayog now as a reformative approach in the wastewater sector. This reformative Hybrid Annuity Model model extended further by adopting the concept of ‘One City-One Operator’ to improve urban governance and accountability in citywide wastewater management. This approach will help in improving the potential for reuse of by-products of STPs. To cater to Industrial pollution, we have taken some important steps like inventorization and annual inspection through an independent institute. Improvement in compliance has been observed from 51.5 per cent (in the year 2016-18) to 87.45 per cent in the year 18-19. Creation of 31.18 MLD (3 Common Effluent Treatment Plants for Tannery clusters) is also under process. We are also giving thrust upon recycle and reuse of treated wastewater in industries.
The flow of the river has its impact on the river’s health and the ecosystem that flourishes in that river. Water is abstracted indiscriminately for various uses, without a thought for the carrying capacity of the river. There is a need for the city to make its contribution towards maintaining the environmental flow of the river. To give the river its right back on its water, the ecological flow was notified for river Ganga in October 2018, formally establishing the right of the river over its water for the first time. This is being implemented successfully and leading to similar studies for other rivers. But it is the responsibility of cities also to move towards demand-side management and reduce the consumption of freshwater for non-potable use. Encouraging rainwater harvesting, switching to water-efficient fixtures, and maximising the reuse of wastewater are excellent ways of relieving the burden on the already overworked rivers.
A comprehensive Biodiversity Conservation, the initiative is in place for mapping and protection of biodiversity hotspot of Ganga. NMCG spearheaded a campaign for conservation of Gangetic Dolphin, the National Aquatic Animal. Hon’ble PM announced Project Dolphin, first for any aquatic animal. A comprehensive scientific program for fisheries conservation has been taken up.
To improve flows, it is crucial to take the river as a single system. Many cities are intrinsically connected to rivers either through wetlands, water bodies, their drainage patterns or groundwater flow. Rejuvenating water bodies and wetlands can go a long way in reducing the burden on rivers. To conserve the urban wetlands, a model tool kit for integrated management and rejuvenation of urban wetlands, with a case study of Bhagalpur has been developed. Other than the urban wetlands, we are also working on wetlands in the flood plain of river Ganga. A project has been sanctioned for developing an integrated management plan to conserve 226 wetlands situated in 27 Ganga districts in Uttar Pradesh up to ten kilometres on either side of the river.
We know that it has to be people’s mission for it to succeed. If people are not part of it, no mission can achieve its goal. Thus, people river connect is very critical for the rejuvenation of the Ganga River. The community engagement and people’s participation for conserving Ganga in the form of a composite strategy have been adopted for strengthening people river connect through the development of community-based cadres of different nature, innovative mass awareness campaigns and organizing focused events of varied nature with special attention on involvement of youth and students. These attempts for behavioural changes has been transforming the program for the first time as a People’s movement to connect them with Ganga and work to keep it clean and healthy.
Riverfronts have been improved, kept clean with people’s support, and ghats, with improved crematoria constructed. There is a transformation from dirty to beautiful river banks. Several innovative public outreach activities are conducted throughout the year to catalyse and motivate community volunteers and people.
With depleting water resources and increased pressure of urbanization, it is pertinent to protect and revitalize the water bodies. City governments need to take responsibility for the stretch of river flowing through or near their boundaries. This cannot happen without integrating a water-centric approach in city planning. Hon’ble PM during NGC meeting also stressed the need for developing a new paradigm for planning for river cities. NMCG is working with NIUA, MoHUA to develop Urban River Management Plan and also initiating a Ganga River Cities Alliance for exchange of knowledge and experience. Ganga River Cities Alliance will be a platform for River cities to come together, discuss, analyse and strategize towards a sustainable but unified vision, for river centric planning and Ganga Rejuvenation. Water centric urban design/ urban river management plan should be a priority of the national policy of urbanisation and should be integrated with master plans of
river cities.
Having brought this path-breaking approach and achieving several landmarks in these few years, we would like to carry them forward more effectively and try to make it a basin-wide program. Moving beyond silos, integrated and collective efforts, hold the key to preserve the sanctity of the river Ganga.
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