Asserting that there was a need to follow a policy of "zero discharge of effluents" to clean the Ganga, the Centre today said that it was considering bringing in a legislation in this regards in consultation with the states through which the river flows.
"The Narendra Modi government has always maintained that it was committed to cleaning the river Ganga. To achieve this goal, it is important to ensure that there was zero discharge of effluents in the river.
"We are working in the direction of bringing in a legislation to ensure that no effluents, be it sewage or industrial waste, is discharged into the Ganga.
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"The legislation will be brought in after due consultation with all the states through which the Ganga passes," Union Minister for Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation Uma Bharti said.
She was addressing a conclave, on the outskirts of the city, attended by collectors and other administrative officials of more than 50 districts spread across five states where gram pradhans of more than 1000 villages situated along the Ganga were also present.
Among others who were present on the occasion included Union Minister for Rural Development, Panchayati Raj and Drinking Water and Sanitation Narendra Singh Tomar.
Tomar said the government was working to ensure that the country was rid of open defecation "within a year" and that the Swachchh Bharat Abhiyan was a big step in that direction.
In the morning, the ministers also paid floral tributes to revolutionary freedom fighter Chandrashekhar Azad.
Bharti also congratulated badmintion player PV Sindhu, who won silver medal at the Rio Olympics, saying "her achievement has brought glory to the women of the entire country.
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Later, Bharti launched various projects under the Namami Gange programme in Varanasi.
Alleging misutilisation of funds meant for cleaning the Ganga river during the previous UPA regime, she said, "Our government will not let even a single penny go waste unlike the previous UPA government that failed in properly utilising the Ganga Action Plan (GAP) funds."
She laid the foundation of Ramna sewage treatment plant to be set up at a cost of Rs 150 crore.
Rs 16 crore will be spent for rejuvenation of the Assi river and Rs 63 crore for renovation of 84 ghats of the city, she said.
She said a DPR for establishing 12 crematoriums in the city has also been prepared.
Bharti laid emphasis on shifting to organic farming on the lands on the banks of river as fertilisers were polluting the river water.
Union Tourism Minister Mahesh Sharma said his ministry was fully cooperating with the water resources ministry to complete the task of cleaning the Ganga river.
