German govt commits 3 million euros for Ganga rejuvenation

The German government has committed three million euros amounting to nearly Rs 21 crore for rejuvenation of river Ganga and an appraisal by the government to formulate concrete projects for initial assistance is expected in March.
An official statement, issued after a meeting between German Environment Minister Barbara Hendricks and Union Water Resources Minister Uma Bharathi here, today said that a round table on scoping mission report, which was conducted recently, was mentioned during the parleys.
The German government has committed 3 million euros to support Ganga rejuvenation during Indo-German negotiations, the statement said.
An appraisal is expected during March 2015 to formulate concrete projects for initial assistance, it said.

Bharathi, the statement said, informed that a Ganga scoping mission was taken up last October following an approval by the Ministry of External Affairs.
As per the report, there may be a potential cooperation on the lines of Indo-German Energy Forum such as river basin planning, institutional setting and researches.

In addition, technical cooperation on selected issues like support to river rejuvenation strategies, hot spot definition, prioritisation, realistic time frame, basin-wide monitoring and evaluation, setting of standards, pollution, Ganga Knowledge Centre and research can be worked out.
There could also be financial cooperation on selected issues as innovative financing models for industrial and urban pollution, assistance to manage funds, selected public and private investment funds, the Minister said.

The German delegation said their country is willing to assists in Ganga rejuvenation in view of their success in the rejuvenation of Rhine and Denube rivers which involved multi-country and multi-state collaboration, the statement added.