Immersion of ashes not to be allowed along the banks of the river

The government on Monday decided to clean in situ 144 open drains carrying sewage along with industrial effluents into the river Ganga as part of its plan to clean up the river system and allow eco-flows.

At the same time it has been decided not to allow immersion of ashes (from cremation) at the shallow end along the banks of the river. Even flowers and coconut offerings in the river shall be trapped through a mesh and recycled for making ‘holi’ colours and composts by those making a livelihood off the river.

From now on, no sewage drainage system will be allowed to have an outlet into the river at any point along its flow, States have been told. A Ganga Vahini comprising ex-servicemen and NGOs will be constituted on the lines of the Red Cross at select locations along the river to keep vigil.

River Front Management for development and beautification of ghats will be undertaken for seven towns, including Kedarnath, Haridwar, Kanpur, Varanasi, Allahabad, Patna and Delhi. More towns will be identified later.

Programmes for afforestation, conservation of flora and of aquatic life are being initiated. The budget allocation for the project is about Rs. 2,000 crore.

These crucial decisions were taken in the fourth meeting of the National Ganga River Basin Authority — the first after the body was transferred to the Ministry of Water Resources and Ganga Rejuvenation. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is the Chairman of the Authority with Water Resources Minister Uma Bharti as the vice-chairperson.

The meeting chaired by Ms. Bharti, was attended among others by Uttrakhand Chief Minister Harish Rawat and the Irrigation Ministers of West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. Poll-bound Jharkhand was unrepresented as the model code of conduct has been imposed there. Union Ministers Nitin Gadkari, Prakash Javadekar, Piyush Goyal and Sripad Naik also participated in the deliberations.

“We made these crucial proposals which were cleared by the authority. The implementation will begin right away and results of the short-term decisions will show in 45 days,” Ms. Bharti told journalists after the meeting.