PM wants digital dashboard

Projects worth Rs.7,700 crore, mostly sewage treatment plants, have been completed out of Rs.20,000 crore allocated for ensuring clean water flow into Ganga river.

The Central Government had allocated Rs.20,000 crore for 2015-20 period of the clean Ganga development to ensure adequate as well as uninterrupted water flows in the river.

This update was given during first meeting of National Ganga Council chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Kanpur on 14 Dec 2019.

The Council has been given overall responsibility for superintendence of pollution prevention and rejuvenation of River Ganga Basin, including Ganga and its tributaries.

The meeting reviewed progress of work done and deliberating on various aspects of cleaning river Ganga with a focus on ‘swachhta’, ‘aviralta’ and ‘nirmalta’.

Modi noted achievements especially zero waste creation by paper mills and reduction in pollution from tanneries. But he pointed out that much more needs to be done.

Prime Minister emphasized that an improvement framework for Nirmal Ganga would require fullest cooperation from the public at large and greater awareness through dissemination of best practices from cities situated along the banks of national rivers.

Efficiency of District Ganga Committees should be improved in all districts, in order to provide an effective framework for expeditious implementation of plans, he stressed.

The Government has set up the Clean Ganga Fund (CGF) to facilitate contributions from individuals, NRIs, corporate entities for funding Ganga rejuvenation projects.

The Prime Minister has personally donated Rs.16.53 crores to CGF, from the amount realized from auction of the gifts he received since 2014 and the prize money of the Seoul Peace prize.

For monitoring the work progress and activities from various schemes and initiatives under Namami Gange and Arth Ganga, Modi gave directions for the setting up of a Digital Dashboard where data from villages and urban bodies should be monitored on a daily basis by Niti Ayog and Ministry of Jal Shakti. fiinews.com