Need for a renew and sincere commitment for Ganga: PM

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said that state govt. should improve their performance of sewage treatment, as it is necessary for the fulfilling the golden glory of the river Ganga.

Addressing the third meeting of the National Ganga River Basin Authority, Prime Minister said that the National Ganga River Basin Authority was set up as a high level body that would give focussed attention to fulfilling our sacred and solemn duty to restore the pristine glory of the Ganga and preserve its riches for future generations.

He said that our efforts in the past have not been very successful. Therefore, we must together show a renewed and sincere commitment in both thought and action to make a definite change in the situation.

Increasing urbanisation, industrialisation and population are not only polluting the Ganga waters, but also threatening its ecological and hydrological viability.

Added to this are the spectre of climate change and melting of glaciers that are also likely to affect the flows of the river adversely.

Prime Minister blamed State govt. that the performance with regard to the operation and maintenance of the existing sewage treatment plants has been tardy. There is under-utilisation of this infrastructure, particularly in the absence of connecting sewerage networks such as branch sewers and house sewer connections. 

Prime Minister said that every day about 2,900 million litres of sewage is discharged into the main stream of the river Ganga from municipal towns located along its banks. The existing infrastructure has a capacity to treat only 1,100 million litres per day, leaving a huge deficit.

There is adequate funding available to create additional treatment facilities under the National Mission Clean Ganga. He urged the States to send appropriate proposals for new projects, he added.