The surface cleaning of Ganga, including removal of solid waste such as clothes and parts of dead bodies, will commence in 10 cities from next month, according to a report in an English news daily.
Water resources minister Uma Bharti said the surface cleaning exercise would start in Haridwar, Garhmukteshwar, Kanpur, Allahabad, Varanasi, Patna, Sahibganj, Kolkata, Nabadwip and Gangasagar under the 'Namami Gange' programme.
Trails for surface cleaning have already started in Varanasi, said the minister. The work has been assigned to Tata Projects. ONGC and NTPC are also interested, she said.
The minister informed the daily that 29 projects have been completed at a cost of Rs 463.58 crore with the treatment capacity of 123 million litres per day (MLD) and sewer network of 666.69 km.
A total of 93 projects have been sanctioned at the cost of Rs 1,502.66 crore. This will result in the creation of treatment capacity of 858 MLD and sewer network of 3,623.10 km.
Development of 4 out of 20 ghats was completed last month.
Work at Chandighat (Haridwar), Chhath Ghat (Delhi) and Sahibganj will begin in January, she said.
