River Ganga will be completely clean by March 2020: Gadkari

Union minister Nitin Gadkari expressed hope here today that the Ganga river will become completely clean by 2020 considering the pace at which its rejuvenation programme was in progress.

He said most of the 221 projects under the Namami Gange Mission worth Rs 22,238 crore are at advanced stages of completion.

"Considering the pace at which the works are awarded and getting completed, we are hopeful that by March 2020, river Ganga will be completely clean. It is a difficult task, but we will complete," the Water Resources and Ganga Rejuvenation Minister said.

The government's flagship project has progressed well and nearly 70-80 per cent of the work will be completed by March 2019, he added.

Gadkari said apart from cleaning the Ganga river, work is also undertaken to clean the tributaries and nallas that flow into the main river.

"All these projects are done by private players and I have not given any responsibility to any of the corporations. I cannot depend on the government for taking ahead these projects and so we have given the responsibility to the private sector to monitor them real-time using the best IT methods," Gadkari said.

The minister was speaking at an event here organised by the Indian Merchants' Chamber (IMC).

The Namami Gange Mission consists of 221 projects