Two-third of allotted funds for Ganga clean up released

U.P. got ₹3,535 crore of the ₹10,972 crore given by Finance Ministry to the NMCG

The National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG), that was conceived as a ₹20,000 crore programme in 2014 to clean up the river has so far been allocated ₹15,074 crore. Of this only ₹10,972 crore, or about two-thirds, has been released by the Finance Ministry to the NMCG, a body under the Jal Shakti Ministry, according to a response to a question in the Rajya Sabha on Monday. The NMCG further allocates the money to the riverine States. Gajendra Shekhawat, Jal Shakti Minister, said in a written response to a question by Congress MP Mallikarjun Kharge that several sets of interventions for cleaning and rejuvenation of the river had been taken up such as treating domestic sewage, industrial effluent, solid waste etc., river front management, maintaining ecological flow, rural sanitation, afforestation, biodiversity conservation, public participation etc. The planned outlay for the Ganga clean up mission, accounting for future costs, is well over ₹20,000 crore Overall, 346 projects had been taken up at a sanctioned cost of ₹30,235 crore, out of which, 158 projects are completed, the reply said.