Rawat moots idea of building Ganga bypass canal in Rishikesh,

Proposing the idea of building a Ganga bypass canal in Rishikesh and Haridwar, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Harish Rawat today demanded an assistance of Rs 10,000 crore from the Centre to achieve 100 per cent results in the Clean Ganga mission.
"If the Centre helps, we can achieve 100 per cent results in the clean Ganga mission. The Centre will have to give Rs 10,000 crore for this. Our action plan for cleaning the Ganga and its tributaries in Uttarakhand is fully ready," Rawat said.
"We want to build a Ganga bypass canal in both Rishikesh and Haridwar so that even treated water is not directly discharged into the river. But we need the Centre's help in this," he said while addressing a programme to honour members of a river rafting expedition team of the ITBP.

The rafting expedition by the ITBP which is to pass through five states before concluding in West Bengal in December will help propagate the message of cleaning the Ganga even faster, the chief minister said.
He showered praise on the paramilitary force for its role in the massive rescue operations carried out in Uttarakhand in the wake of the 2013 flood and the successful conduct of the high-altitude Nanda Raj Jaat Yatra last year.
The Chief Minister said financial assistance from the Centre for the Ardhakumbh mela is still awaited but the state government has begun its preparations for the grand event out of its own resources.

"Never before were works of permanent nature undertaken on this scale for the grand religious congregation. Five permanent bridges are being built in Haridwar, the ghats are being widened and a new ghat is being built in Chandighat to cope with the crowd of devotees," he said.