World Bank approves one billion to clean Ganga

A significant part of the Bank's support will go towards financing demonstrative investments for reducing pollution in a sustainable manner, in four key sectors: wastewater collection and treatment, industrial pollution control, solid waste management, and riverfront management, a statement said.

The World Bank's National Ganga River Basin Project will help build the capacity of the NGRBA's new operational institutions to manage the Ganga clean-up and conservation programme.

In 2009, India had set up the National Ganga River Basin Authority (NGRBA) to help clean the river.

It will also help fund priority investments critical for reducing pollution in the river. "The World Bank is honoured to be able to support the government in its effort to revitalise this holy and mighty river of India," said Roberto Zagha, World Bank Country Director for India.

"The Government of India is clearly committed to this, has a robust plan of action and is dedicating the required resources for this national effort.

I am confident that with sustained public and political support for the NGRBA Programme, significant progress towards cleaning the Ganga will be achieved," Zagha said.

The Bank-financed Project will also help set up a state-of-the-art Ganga Knowledge Centre to act as a repository for information and knowledge relevant for the conservation of the river.

It will also help build the capacity of existing agencies (like the city-level service providers) responsible for operating and managing pollution-control assets like wastewater and sewage treatment plants and sewer networks in cities and towns along the river.

It will also help strengthen the Central and State Pollution Control Boards for better monitoring of pollution in the Ganga, by modernizing information systems and providing staff training.

"The Ganga is a lifeline for India and is especially critical for the large and important states it flows through.

The lives of the people living here and the economy of these states are largely intertwined with the river.

The Central government and the concerned state governments are working together on the Mission Clean Ganga to conserve this vital resource," said Venu Rajamony, Joint Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs.

"Earlier efforts to clean the Ganga concentrated on a few highly polluting towns and centers and addressed 'end-of-the-pipe' wastewater treatment there; Mission Clean Ganga builds on lessons from the past, and will look at the entire Gangetic basin while planning and prioritizing investments instead of the earlier town-centric approach," he added.