231 projects under Namami Gange to be launched all over country today

With an aim to give a major boost to Namami Gange Programme, 231 projects will be inaugurated today at various locations in Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Haryana and Delhi.

Water Resources Minister Uma Bharti made this announcement at a press conference in the national capital yesterday.

She said these projects involve modernization and redevelopment of Ghats and crematoriums, development of sewage infrastructure and treatment, afforestation, tree plantation, pilot drain project, interceptor drain project, trash skimmers and conservation of biodiversity.

"47 such projects will be inaugurated at various locations in Dehradun, Garhwal, Tehri garhwal, Rudraprayag, Haridwar and Chamoli districts of Uttarakhand," Bharti said.

The main function will be held at Haridwar which will be attended by Uttarakhand Chief Minister Harish Rawat and Union Ministers Nitin Gadkari, Choudhary Birender Singh, Mahesh Sharma and Uma Bharti.

Referring to Ganga Gram Yojana, Bharti said 400 villages along the river will be developed as Ganga Gram in phase-I.

Thirteen IITs have adopted five villages each for development as Ganga Grams.

She said training for 328 sarpanchs was completed at Sichawal in Punjab.