Uttarakhand: Six Polluted River Stretches To Be Rejuvenated Under Namami Gange Programme At A Cost Of Rs 200 Crore

The Executive Committee (EC) of the National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) on Friday (16 July) approved new projects for the rejuvenation of six polluted river stretches in Uttarakhand.

The proposals from State Mission, Uttarakhand, for these polluted stretches have been under review by NMCG and were finalised and taken up for consideration by the EC on Friday.

It has approved the Interception and Diversion (I&D), and STP work of six polluted river stretches to rejuvenate rivers Bhela, Dhela, Kichha, Kosi, Nandhore, Pilakhar and Kashipur.

As per the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) report identifying polluted stretches of the rivers in the country, there were nine polluted stretches in Uttarakhand state.

Six of them were in district Udham Singh Nagar on various tributaries or small rivers such as Bhela, Dhela, Kichha, Nandor, Pilankha and Kosi. Two stretches were on Rispana-Bindal and Suswa.

The project will ensure the tapping of a total of 17 Nalas, which will be intercepted and diverted to nine STPs to be constructed under this project for a total treatment capacity of 30.30 MLD.

The project shall cover the six polluted river stretches in the Kumaon region. Out of the remaining three polluted stretches, a project of Ganga at Jagjeetpur, Haridwar, has already been commissioned, and on the remaining two, Namami Gange projects are already under execution.

“With this project, all the polluted stretches in the state of Uttarakhand have been covered under pollution abatement projects. An important and progressive feature of the project is comprehensive sludge management arrangements and provision for co-treatment of septage in all these STPs,” the Ministry of Jal Shakti said.

The central monitoring committee is reviewing the progress of action plans of states for polluted stretches. The Union Minister for Jal Shakti, Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, recently reviewed these projects and the state government at the ministerial level also represented him.