The World Bank has approved $1 billion as credit and loan to support India’s efforts to clean up the Ganga River. The sprawling river basin accounts for a fourth of the country’s water resources and is home to more than 400 million people. The $1,556 billion National Ganga River Basin Project with $1 billion in financing from the World Bank group, including $199 million interest-free credit and $801 million low-interest loan, was approved by the Bank’s board of executive directors in June 2011and will be implemented over eight years.

The project will support the National Ganga River Basin Authority (NGRBA) in building the capacity of its nascent operational level institutions so that they can manage the long term Ganga clean-up and conservation programme.

Apart from dedicated operational-level institutions at the Central and State levels, the Project will help the National Ganga River Basin Authority (NGRBA) to set up a state-of-the-art Ganga Knowledge Centre to act as a repository of knowledge relevant for the conservation of the Ganga.

While NGRBA will fund investments (in sewage treatment plants, sewer networks and the like) that are critical for reducing pollution in the Ganga, it is the cities and municipalities that will have to be responsible for managing and maintaining them in the long run. The project will help build the capacity of city-level service providers responsible for running these assets and also modernise their systems for doing so.

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The project will also help strengthen the Central and State Pollution Control Boards for monitoring the pollution in the Ganga better by modernising their information systems and providing staff training. The project will also finance the up gradation of the Ganga water quality monitoring system, as well as carry out an inventory of all the sources of pollution that affect water quality in the Ganga.

One of the reasons why earlier efforts to clean the Ganga did not take root was the lack of public participation. The project will help the NGRBA devise and implement communications programmes to encourage people to participate in the clean-up programme.

About National Ganga River Basin Authority

The need for revamping the river conservation programme was widely recognised in view of the shortcomings in the approach followed in GAP. It was felt necessary that a new holistic approach based on river basin as the unit of planning and institutional redesign may be adopted. Accordingly, the Government of India has given Ganga the status of a National River and has constituted the National Ganga River Basin Authority (NGRBA) on 20th February 2009 under Section 3(3) of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986.

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The NGRBA is a planning, financing, monitoring and coordinating body of the centre and the states. The objective of the NGRBA is to ensure effective abatement of pollution and conservation of the river Ganga by adopting a river basin approach for comprehensive planning and management.

Function and Power of NGRBA

The Authority has both regulatory and developmental functions. The Authority will take measures for effective abatement of pollution and conservation of the river Ganga in keeping with sustainable development needs. These include;

i. Development of a river basin management plan;

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ii. Regulation of activities aimed at prevention, control and abatement of pollution in Ganga to maintain its water quality, and to take measures relevant to river ecology and management in the Ganga basin states;

iii. Maintenance of minimum ecological flows in the river Ganga;

iv. Measures necessary for planning, financing and execution of programmes for abatement •of pollution in the river Ganga including augmentation of sewerage infrastructure, catchment area treatment, protection of flood plains, creating public awareness;

v. Collection, analysis and dissemination of information relating to environmental pollution in the river Ganga;

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vi. Investigations and research regarding problems of environmental pollution and conservation of the river Ganga;

vii. Promotion of water conservation practices including recycling and reuse, rain water harvesting, and decentralised sewage treatment systems;

viii. Monitoring and review of the implementation of various programmes or activities taken up for prevention, control and abatement of pollution in the river Ganga;

ix. Issue directions under section 5 of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 for the purpose of exercising and performing these functions and for achievement of its objectives.