Modi's 'Mission Ganga' garners international support

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s mission to rejuvenate the Ganga is receiving support from the international community, with Australia, Germany, Israel and the United Kingdom (UK) all keen on helping to clean up and revive the river.

Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott is likely to offer assistance to “Mission Ganga”, when he will meet Modi in New Delhi on Friday.

Abbott, who is now on a visit to Mumbai and New Delhi, will offer to share Australia’s experience in integrated and sustainable management of water resources, particularly in the Murray-Darling river basin.

Sanjay Bhattacharya, joint secretary (South) in the Ministry of External Affairs, told journalists that India and Australia were already cooperating on water resources management. India’s river and water resources management experts had travelled to southern Australia and had meetings with their counterparts at the Murray-Darling Basin Authority. 

“The water partnership has actually been a very profitable relationship for the two countries,” said Bhattacharya. The government has been studying the Murray-Darling model for implementation in the smaller river systems across the country.

“But the Australians, I may share with you, have expressed interest in looking at whether we could do something at Ganga as well,” Bhattacharya told journalists.
Abbott is expected to tell Modi that Australia, the driest continent, is keen to share with India its expertise and technology it has mastered over the years in integrated and sustainable management of river basin.

Ever since the NDA government made public its plan to launch a mission to clean up and rejuvenate the Ganga, several countries offered to share their experience and expertise.

British Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg, who was in New Delhi recently, told Modi that the UK was keen to share with India its experience of cleaning the Thames as well as to help clean up the Ganga. 

German Ambassador to India Michael Steiner met Minister for Water Resources Uma Bharti and offered German expertise for rejuvenation and clean-up of the Ganga.
Israel, which has robust water resource management collaboration with India, has also offered help.