more-inThe government is unlikely to be able to clean the Ganga by 2018, a target set by Water Resources Minister Uma Bharti. According to a senior official, work at developing the sewage treatment plants (STPs) in Uttar Pradesh had stopped because different expert groups, tasked by the court to estimate the sewage in the drains, had conflicting figures. “STPs of certain sizes are commissioned based on studies of how sewage varies daily, existing oxygen levels and several other criteria. It has also tasked the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) with probing how certain projects were cleared by the Uttar Pradesh Jal Nigam in Garhmukteshwar. Out of a ₹20,000-crore clean-up programme, only ₹2,000 crore has been sanctioned to the National Mission for Clean Ganga, the executive authority tasked with commissioning treatment plants, cleaning and beautifying the ghats and setting up improved crematoria.

Source: The Hindu March 01, 2017 20:03 UTC