Newly launched Namami Gange incorporates significant new and
innovative implementation elements to clean & protect Ganga :
1) People-centred : Unlike previous schemes, it has brought
the people living on river's banks, ULBs & PRIs under the main
implementing machinery.
2) Projects Approvals : Now all the ministries such as
Environment, Shipping, Urban development, Tourism etc have been working with
the nodal ministry i.e. Water Resource ministry.
3) Shift in tackling Pollution : Treatment of waste,
industrial effluents,drains to be tackled through Bio-remediation, in-situ
treatments, innovative technologies, sewage and effluent treatment plants. In
addition, more professional approach by including PPP and SPV (special pupose
vehicle) has been taken.
However, the approach still fails to understand the actual
problem on several counts :
1)Fragility of the region : Programme has completely failed
to address the fragility of the region thereby reflecting a norrow approach to
tackle problem.
2)Flow of the river : Programme has not showed seriousness
towards resolving the reduction of Flow of Ganga river as there is still
trade-off between irreversible damaging development projects and cleaning
Ganga.
3) Industrial Norms : Programme has not taken hard on
polluting industries by imposing strict effluent norms.
4) Mindset : still remains the same - Ganga is a holy river
and it has self cleansing property.
In my view following more needs to be done :
1) Permitting only environment benign projects so that they
would have replacable rather irreversible damage.
2) Polluting industries should be encouraged to use treated
municipal waste water.
3) In the upper fragile region, no construction or
developmental activity should be permitted.
So, we need to look the problem in a holistic way to
sucessfully resolve it rather in a peicemeal manner.
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One key difference is use of technology like SMS based
pollution level monitoring, coordination with ISRO Bhuvan. Amd here the focus
is also on treating the tributaries of Ganga and not Ganga alone.
But we need to have dams to provide power and so we must
shift to a holistic framework with blend of hydro and other sources like
nuclear, solar, etc.
20k crore budgetary outlay for 5 years.
But no special focus on biodiveristy and fragile ecology
while we comfortably wish for nirmal and aviral dharaa.
Plans of govenrment to make villages along thr bank as open
defecation free by 2022 and tp raise 4 bataalions of eco task force.
Upper reaches of the river, due tk being religiously sacrosanct,
attracts a lot of tourism and developmental activities, which must be limited.
Intrrnational best practices like Thames, Rhine, etc must be
studied as well.
And whete is the crirical analysis? Plesse dont be so
diplomatic in your answer.
1. Differences over ministries regarding hydro powrr
projects.
2. No clear directiin or roadmap for the project snd SC had
chided the government over the same.
3. Large sums spent but no attitudinal changes in people.
4. We give incentives for treatment of wastes, sewage but
not invoke strict polluter pays principle.
5. Poor administrative and logistics support during events
like Kumbh Mela
.
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