Focus on perennial flow in Ganga to ensure cleanliness: Panel

The panel, headed by MP T Subbarami Reddy, which submitted its report "on Demand for Grants for environment ministry" in Parliament last week, also opined that despite a huge amount of money spent under Ganga Action Plan I and II to clean the river, there has not been any considerable improvement in its water quality.

The government in its reply had said roughly an amount of Rs 900 crores have been spent on the Plan I and II. The panel noted that strategy of setting up of sewerage treatment plants and common effluent plants has not worked to the desired level.

"Flowing of untreated sewage and sewerage, open drains and industrial effluents are still continuing on a large-scale. Sewage treatment plants are not working to their optimum capacity due to one reason or the other."

So far under the GAP sewage treatment, capacity of 1025 million litres per day (MLD) has been created against about 3000 MLD being generated in the towns situated along the river banks.

"With the ever increasing load of population on urban areas, this problem would further aggravate," the panel said suggesting the government "to work on the principle of perennial flow in the river to ensure its cleanliness.

The committee, however, lauded the government's efforts to initiate a new action, including setting up National Ganga River Basin Authority to clean the river and allocate a substantial amount for the purpose.

The Government on February, 2009 designated River Ganga as National river. The NGBRA has been notified as an empowered planning, financing monitoring and co-coordinating authority for the Ganga under the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986.