In yet another ambitious move, Yogi government in Uttar Pradesh has announced that no effluent discharge in the Ganga would be allowed along its course after December 15 in the run up to the 2019 Kumbh Mela that will take place in Allahabad. Chief minister Yogi reportedly assured union minister Nitin Gadkari that there will be no effluent discharge in the river post December 15. He made it clear that all proposed sewage treatment plants (STP) would be completed before December 15 or else bioremediation methods would be resorted to, for ensuring no impurities were dumped into the river before Kumbh Mela. He was speaking at a Namami Gange event in Kanpur in the presence of road transport & highways, shipping and water resources, river development & Ganga rejuvenation minister Nitin Gadkari. He also said that he had instructed the state government officials to ensure that all sewage outlets going into the Ganga between Bijnor and Ballia are cleaned at any cost. He also expressed gratitude towards prime minister Modi who has sanctioned Rs. 20,000 crores to ensure that the Ganga becomes pure and wholesome under the Namami Gange project and National Ganga River Basin Authority.
Chief minister Yogi also stressed that we should take care not to pollute the river Ganga and that if there is sufficient flow of water then there will be no need to shift its waters. He further stated that if there will be continuous flow of water in the Ganga then it will become pure and wholesome as well.
Chief minister Yogi also said that Uttar Pradesh has been working in close association with the centre under the ongoing National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG). He also shed light on his government’s ambitious plan to develop ponds at every 100 km along the route of Ganga crisscrossing the state. Yogi further remarked that Ganga and Yamuna rivers are the lifelines of the country and that there was an urgent need to ensure that their places of origin and downstream basins were free from effluents and water pollution. Elaborating upon his government’s efforts to clean the Ganga in the run up to the Kumbh Mela, he also stated, “We have prepared an action plan to develop water bodies along their courses for rainwater harvesting and providing alternative water supply resources to the local community to curb water pollution and overexploitation. Besides, extensive plantations would be done along their banks.” Besides, he mentioned that Uttar Pradesh government has set an ambitious target of planting 9 crore saplings on August 15 across the state with a view to increase the green cover and keeping the ecological balance in mind.
This is not for the first time that the government has been able to make remarkable process as far as cleaning the Ganges and ridding it of impurities is concerned. In May this year, union minister Nitin Gadkari had announced that as much as 70 per cent of the Ganga river will be clean by the end of 2019. This showcased how the Modi government was moving ahead with all seriousness about its poll promise of cleaning the Ganga and restoring it in face of all the damage that has been done to the iconic river due to decades of exploitation. Now, the ambitious step taken by the Yogi government is going to further ensure that we take a huge and firm step towards a clean Ganga.