india

Updated: Jun 20, 2017 21:31 IST

The Uttar Pradesh government plans to shift water-polluting industries away from Ganga as part of the Centre’s ambitious drive to clean the river.

The state government’s spokesperson and its power minister Shrikant Sharma told reporters on Tuesday that the Yogi Adityanath dispensation has drawn up plans to move such industries, which are a major source of pollution to the river.

“We are now working in a big way to join the central government’s drive to clean the river,” Sharma said.

The shifted industries will be provided with treated water from the sewage treatment plants. It will also help in augmenting water supply to households, he added.

Soon after coming to power at the Centre in 2014, the Modi government had launched ‘Namami Gange’ programme aimed at cleaning the holy river but has not been able to meet its target so far.

The BJP had blamed this for the alleged lack of cooperation from the then Samajwadi Party government in Uttar Pradesh and the Congress government in Uttarakhand, the state from where Ganga originates.

The BJP came to power in the two states in March following the assembly elections.