Ganga will be made model river: Uma Bharti

The Ganga will be made a "model river" for the world, Water Resources and Ganga Rejuvenation Minister Uma Bharti said Friday.

Speaking on the government's plans to clean and rejuvenate the river, Uma Bharti said government is making short, medium and long term goals for cleaning the river.

"India will be a model of development, and Ganga will be a model for all rivers," she said.

The water resource minister said all tributaries of Ganga will also be cleaned.

"Just as Prime Minister Narendra Modi took Chinese president (Xi Jinping) on the bank of Sabarmati, someday the prime minister will bring the guests to Yamuna bank," she said.

"We have identified short term goals which will be implemented in next six months, then there are medium term goals which will be implemented in one and half years to three years...The long term goals will be implemented in three to 10 years," she said.

The short term goals, include "safe disposal" of religious materials into the river, and controlling industrial discharge, Uma Bharti said.

The minister has highlighted about controlling the flow of fertilisers from fields into the river for the medium term goals and for the long term goals, she pointed out towards stopping sewage flow into the river.

"Stopping flow of sewage in Ganga is a long term plan. All sewage lines in the cities are designed to fall into Ganga. We have to see how to change that without disturbing the cities," the minister said.

She added that even treated waste from industries will not be sent to Ganga.

"We have decided that industrial waste, even if treated, will not be channelled back to rivers. It can be diverted, used for irrigation and other purposes but not sent to rivers," she said.

The minister said a special committee is being formed to look into pollution caused by cremation on the banks of Ganga in cities like Varanasi and Haridwar.

"Usually cremation grounds are close to banks of Ganga. The saints have said they will accept any technology which ensure that contents used in the cremation are not dumped into the river," she said.