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NEW DELHI: The government has asked Delhi-based NGO, Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH), to document the cultural heritage of Ganga from Gaumukh in Uttarakhand to Gangasagar in West Bengal .

Under a plan, approved by the National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG), INTACH will document the river’s associated cultural narrative, including features like an annual calendar of events and rituals. This will cover archaeological, cultural and environmental heritage linked to the river and the people living along its banks.

“The proposal seeks to develop an appreciation of the river as a cultural stream embedded in the soul of India, by documenting its associated cultural narrative,” said an official statement of the NMCG’s on its latest approvals of various plans relating to Ganga rejuvenation.

Besides the INTACH plan, the NMCG in its executive committee meeting on Tuesday also approved projects worth nearly Rs 150 crore for Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh , Bihar and West Bengal under the ‘Namami Gange’ programme.

These projects include an Interception and Diversion (I&D) project for Rispana and Bindal rivers in Dehradun at an estimated cost of Rs 60 crore. Once executed, this project will tap 117 drains which currently carry untreated waste water.

The development of ‘Ghats’ in Mirzapur, Uttar Pradesh was also approved at an estimated cost of Rs 27.41 crore under the Clean Ganga Fund. The project includes the renovation, extension and widening of the ‘Ghats’ as well as provision of amenities, landscaping and embankment construction.

For Bihar, NMCG approved a 3.5 million litres per day (MLD) capacity sewage treatment plant (STP) for Sonepur at an estimated cost of Rs 30.92 crore. Besides, the executive committee also gave its approval to upgrade Ghats and crematoria at Katwa, Kalna, Agradwip and Dainhat in West Bengal at an estimated cost of Rs 8.58 crore.

