NGOs to take responsibility for cleaning 12 Ganga Ghats

The responsibility of cleaning and maintenance of 12 ghats located along the river Ganga will be given to seven NGOs, a senior official said.
The ghats including Dasaswamedh Ghat, Sheetla Ghat, Rajendar Prasad Ghat, Prayag Ghat, Manmandir Ghat, Meer ghat, Munshi Ghat, Bhonsle Ghat, Guleriya Ghat, Ganesh ghat and Shivala Ghat will be taken care of by the NGOs for a period of three years, Divisional Commissioner Chanchal Kumar Tiwari said, while approving the proposal yesterday.
The NGOs will ensure removal of the debris deposited on the ghats and also be responsible for cleaning and maintenance of the Ghats.
The proposal does not include permission to carry out heavy repair, demolition or any new construction on the ghats. The NGOs will not be permitted to display of any kind of advertisements on the Ghats, Tiwari said.

To ensure compliance by the rules at local level during the process of 'adoption of Ghats' by the NGOs, the rules as per the court will be clearly mentioned in the contract, he said.
The City Commissioner and Deputy Director, Tourism have been instructed to conduct timely inspection of the ghats and if the cleanliness on the ghats is not found to be satisfactory during the period they can cancel the contract with the NGO, Tiwari said.