NEW DELHI: The West Bengal government proposed on Wednesday to build crematoria for animals to prevent disposal of dead bodies in Ganga and other water bodies, said a statement by the Water Resources and Ganga Rejuvenation Ministry.

The proposal came up during the review of projects under Namami Gange programme in Bihar , Jharkhand and West Bengal by Water Resources and Ganga Rejuvenation Minister Nitin Gadkari .

The minister instructed contractors to speed up the work and complete projects by December 2018. He also urged the officials of the central and state governments to resolve all issues that are obstructing the work in any way.

Gadkari said that he, along with his deputy in the ministry Satya Pal Singh, will inspect the sites during the coming months and monitor the progress of the projects.

The minister also reviewed the progress of 20 projects under Patna Riverfront Development which is nearing completion. So far, 16 ghats, 4.8 km promenade and 1 building for audio visual programmes have already been constructed under Patna RFD.

"The Union Minister appreciated the proposal of West Bengal officials to build crematoria for animals to prevent the disposal of their dead bodies of animals into the River Ganga and other water bodies," a statement by the ministry said.

Disposal of dead bodies of animals is one of the reasons for pollution in Ganga.

In West Bengal, the ongoing projects to create Sewage Treatment Plant (STP) capacity of 80 MLD and under tendering projects for 204 MLD STP capacity were reviewed by the Minister.

The work on 15 ghats and four crematoria are under progress and officials were instructed to complete it by December 2018.

