Stop polluting Ganga or face music, says Ramesh

The government today warned the factories and tanneries, which discharge waste without treatment into the river Ganga, and said action to shut them would be initiated if they continued to do this.

“Ganga is getting polluted day-by-day. Nearly 170 factories and tanneries located between Kannauj and Varanasi, covering an area of 450 km, were found responsible for polluting the river by discharging wastes into it without treatment,” Union Minister For Environment And Forests Jairam Ramesh said. “The government will issue showcause notices to these industrial units on August 30 and if they fail to take any action within 15 days, steps will be initiated to shut them,” he said.

The minister was in the city to participate in the Ganga river basin management workshop organised by IIT-Kanpur. Ruing over the inaction of state pollution control board, Ramesh said the responsibility of making the river pollution free would now be entrusted upon the Central Pollution Control Board.

“The government has set aside Rs 15,000 crore for the next 10 years to check pollution in Ganga. The fund would be shared by the Centre and state government on 70:30 basis,” he said.