Clean Ganga: 3 sewage treatment plans approved

In its first step to clean the Ganga, the National Democratic Alliance government on Tuesday cleared three sewage-treatment plants in Bihar and West Bengal. Together, the plants will entail investment of Rs 290 crore.

Two sewage plants in Patna and one sewage integration and treatment plant at Budge Budge, West Bengal, have been sanctioned for "pollution abatement", under the National Ganga River Basin Authority, it is learnt. In West Bengal, a sewerage network (door-to-door connectivity for collection and disposal of waste water after treatment) across 131.59 km, with capacity of 9.3 million litres a day, was sanctioned.

Speaking to Business Standard, environment minister Prakash Javadekar said 70 per cent of the funds for the plants would be granted by the Centre and rest by states. "This is an absolutely important step towards cleaning the Ganga," he said.

According to a note, Patna has an installed treatment capacity of 109 million litres a day, against the required capacity of 330 million litres a day. Pointing out the current capacity was inefficient, the government said, "The city has installed capacity of about 109 million litres a day, most of which isn't in working condition." Setting up the two sewage treatment plants in Patna - one in Beur and the other in Karmalichak - will lead to additional capacity of 80 million litres a day.

The government said two more plants, with capacities of 60 million litres a day each, were in the pipeline.

A study by the Central Pollution Control Board in 2013 had found a third of the sewage treatment capacity in the country was unused.

For the ambitious Ganga-cleaning project, an inter-ministerial group has already been formulated; the group is headed by urban development minister Nitin Gadkari. On June 6, Gadkari had set up a committee of secretaries to prepare an action plan report on the Ganga within a month. The committee is yet to release the report.