Pollution Control Board's new draft plan proposes segment-wise approach for cleaning up river Ganga

Even as a host of plans to clean river Ganga exist on paper, the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) has prepared a new draft plan for cleaning up the river in four segments based on geography, eco-flow of the river and pollution load. The National Mission for Clean Ganga, (NMCG), in-charge of implementing Ganga cleaning plans took a year and half to decide that setting up sewage treatment facilities for towns located on banks of Ganga will be the focus of conserving the river's water quality. But the CPCB's new draft has now proposed to shift the focus towards segment wise, in situ treatment of polluted water under the direct control of state governments. Dna has a copy of the draft plan.

CPCB has said that there is an "immediate need to commission in-site treatment of the 144 drains joining river Ganga or any other actions without waiting for full-fledged sewage treatment plants as it may be a time taking process." The pollution watchdog has proposed that the Centre invite private players to demonstrate, on a pilot basis, in-situ treatment which it thinks is more cost-effective and will be economical. In another major recommendation it has said that Ghats on river Ganga should be hand over to religious and private institutes for their up-keep.

"Ghats are primarily used for religious and spiritual activities and local shrines are actively involved so they can be roped in", said a top official from the union environment and forest ministry. CPCB's plan has also noted that in the upper segments such as Narora, there is immense abstraction of water for irrigation and human consumption and that it should be reduced for increasing river's flow.

Under the segment wise approach, CPCB has proposed to divide river cleaning into four-segments, each having their own action plan based on the pollution load coming from domestic sewage and industries and flow of the river. According to sources, CPCB's draft plan was presented to union environment minister Prakash Javadekar and the ministry has approved it prima-facie. It was also discussed with union minister for water resources, river development and Ganga rejuvenation Uma Bharti and her ministry too has given an in-principle nod.

The first segment has been demarcated between the river's origin and Haridwar, the second segment between Haridwar and Narora. According to CPCB's draft plan, these segments are the least polluted and fewer grossly polluting industries are situated on the banks of Ganga along this stretch.

The third segment is divided into three sub-sections being the most polluted stretch. This segment stretches begins from Narora passing through Kanpur, Allahabad and ends at Varanasi. Segment four is spread across two sub-sections between Varanasi up to Diamond Harbour in Kolkata. "Each of the river's stretch has a varying pollution load and one size for all approach won't work to clean the river. A segment-wise approach would see a reduction in time taken for implementing project," said a top-ranking CPCB official on the condition of anonymity.

Mammoth task
River Ganga runs a course of 2,525 km before joining the Bay of Bengal
There are 66 districts located along the Ganga's main stem
118 priority towns have been identified along the banks of Ganga
144 drains discharge industrial and domestic waste into the Ganga and there are 764 grossly polluting industries on the river's main stem that generate 501 million litres per day of waste water