NEW DELHI: Germany will provide a soft loan of 120 million euros (approx. Rs 990 crore) to India as part of its contribution to the ongoing river Ganga cleaning programme. The money will be used in Uttarakhand for various activities including construction of sewerage network, sewage treatment plants and rehabilitation of existing waste water systems.

The German government had committed to providing the aid in 2015 when it also decided to grant 1.5 million euros, in addition to the soft loan, for accompanying measures including training and exposure of technical staff to best practices in the sector.

Elaborating on his country’s role, Jasper Wieck, the charge d’affaires, German Embassy in India, said the project would focus on extension and replacement of sewerage system (around 360 kilometres) including complete house connection, construction of STPs of around 15 million litres per day (MLD) and 13 sewage pumping stations.

“The purpose of the project is to reduce the inflow of untreated waste water in River Ganga and, thus, to improve the water quality of the river,” Wieck said.

Asked about Germany’s exact role, he said, “We can only use our experience. It took us 30 years and 45 billion euros to clean the river Rhine . Length of Ganga is double its length, so this can give you an essence about problems India is facing in cleaning Ganga.” Wieck said the German development agency GIZ has prepared a ‘Ganga Box’, aimed to target school-going children and inform them about the river.

