Govt should ensure ‘aviral’ flow of Ganga, says environment scientist BD Tripathi (Times of India)

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VARANASI: After the UPA government constituted the National Ganga River Basin Authority (NGRBA) in 2009 and announced "Mission Clean Ganga by 2020", the NDA government led by Narendra Modi has set a target to clean the holy river in the next 18 years. But a top Ganga expert claims that what is missing in the new plan is a provision for uninterrupted flow of the river. 

The Central government recently placed a blue print before the Supreme Court on short, medium and long term measures worth thousands of crores to be executed in the next 18 years to restore the glory of the Ganga. 

It said in the affidavit that 118 towns situated on the bank of the Ganga have been identified as a first target to achieve total sanitation, including waste-water treatment and solid waste management. In order to ensure rejuvenation of the Ganga, the action plan envisages phase-wise timeline: short term—a period of three years, medium term —a period of next five years and long term — a period of next ten years and more. 

Further, the ministry of urban development identified 118 urban habitations on the banks of the Ganga for extending coverage of sewerage infrastructure at the estimated cost of Rs 51,000 crore and also to make 1,649 gram panchayats located along the Ganga free from open defecation. 

"But what is missing in the Modi government's approach is 'aviralta' (free flow) of the Ganga. The plan's major thrust is on pollution abatement only, while the most important issue, i.e, of uninterrupted flow, has been given the least importance," said environment scientist B D Tripathi.

Tripathi had also written a letter to the Prime Minister to draw his attention to the issue of ensuring unobstructed and uninterrupted flow of the river. 

"The present need of the Ganga is its 'aviralta' and 'nirmalta' (cleanliness). However, during the Ganga Manthan programme organized recently in New Delhi, nobody discussed the modality of increasing the flow of water in the Ganga and maintain the sanctity of Gangajal released from Gomukh," Tripathi wrote in his letter to the PM. 

Tripathi said, "in place of restoration of the glory of Gangajal, the ministry has announced commercialization of its water without discussing the environmental impact of dredging or running motor operated ships. Impact assessment of commercial activities on micro and macro flora and fauna of the river, which maintain the 'Ganga ecosystem' besides religious and socio-cultural rituals performed on its banks is also important." 

On the issue of barrages on the river, Tripathi said: "As Farakka barrage on the Ganga has imposed several environmental problems, the government should study the impact assessment before building new barrage." 

After the NGRBA was set up in 2009, it was decided to achieve "Mission Clean Ganga" by 2020. It was to be ensured that by 2020 no untreated municipal sewage and industrial effluent drained into the Ganga and the investment required to create necessary treatment and sewerage infrastructure to be shared suitably by the Central and state governments. The World Bank approved a fund of $ 1 billion to achieve the objective of Mission Clean Ganga. 

Govt should ensure ‘aviral’ flow of Ganga, says environment scientist BD Tripathi

Link to News published on Economic Times published on 25th of Sept 2014
VARANASI: After the UPA government constituted the National Ganga River Basin Authority(NGRBA) in 2009 and announced "Mission Clean Ganga by 2020", the NDA government led by Narendra Modi has set a target to clean the holy river in the next 18 years. But a top Ganga expert claims that what is missing in the new plan is a provision for uninterrupted flow of the river. 

The Central government recently placed a blue print before the Supreme Court on short, medium and long term measures worth thousands of crores to be executed in the next 18 years to restore the glory of the Ganga. 

It said in the affidavit that 118 towns situated on the bank of the Ganga have been identified as a first target to achieve total sanitation, including waste-water treatment and solid waste management. In order to ensure rejuvenation of the Ganga, the action plan envisages phase-wise timeline: short term—a period of three years, medium term —a period of next five years and long term — a period of next ten years and more. 

Further, the ministry of urban development identified 118 urban habitations on the banks of the Ganga for extending coverage of sewerage infrastructure at the estimated cost of Rs 51,000 crore and also to make 1,649 gram panchayats located along the Ganga free from open defecation. 

"But what is missing in the Modi government's approach is 'aviralta' (free flow) of the Ganga. The plan's major thrust is on pollution abatement only, while the most important issue, i.e, of uninterrupted flow, has been given the least importance," said environment scientist B D Tripathi. 

Tripathi had also written a letter to the Prime Minister to draw his attention to the issue of ensuring unobstructed and uninterrupted flow of the river. 

"The present need of the Ganga is its 'aviralta' and 'nirmalta' (cleanliness). However, during the Ganga Manthan programme organized recently in New Delhi, nobody discussed the modality of increasing the flow of water in the Ganga and maintain the sanctity of Gangajal released from Gomukh," Tripathi wrote in his letter to the PM. 

Tripathi said, "in place of restoration of the glory of Gangajal, the ministry has announced commercialization of its water without discussing the environmental impact of dredging or running motor operated ships. Impact assessment of commercial activities on micro and macro flora and fauna of the river, which maintain the 'Ganga ecosystem' besides religious and socio-cultural rituals performed on its banks is also important." 

On the issue of barrages on the river, Tripathi said: "As Farakka barrage on the Ganga has imposed several environmental problems, the government should study the impact assessment before building new barrage." 

After the NGRBA was set up in 2009, it was decided to achieve "Mission Clean Ganga" by 2020. It was to be ensured that by 2020 no untreated municipal sewage and industrial effluent drained into the Ganga and the investment required to create necessary treatment and sewerage infrastructure to be shared suitably by the Central and state governments. The World Bank approved a fund of $ 1 billion to achieve the objective of Mission Clean Ganga. 

Prof. B D Tripathi on CNN IBN

Prof. Tripathi interview on CNN IBN (Link to Video)

गंगा की बदहाली जानने की कोशिश NDTV

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ऐसा माना जाता है इलाहाबाद में संगम में डुबकी लगाने से आपके सारे पाप धुल जाते हैं, लेकिन गंगा यहां अपने पानी में सिर्फ पाप ही नहीं ढोती, बल्कि इसमें तमाम किस्म की गंदगी भी मिली रहती है। देखिये गंगा में बढ़ते प्रदुषण पर एनडीटीवी की यह खास पेशकश और प्रो. त्रिपाठी का साक्षात्कार.

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SC raps Modi govt for lack of urgency in cleaning River Ganga

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New Delhi, Aug 13: A Supreme Court Bench headed by Justice TS Thakur told the Central government, “The issue of cleaning Ganga is very important and it has to be put on front burner.”

Solicitor General Mukul Rohatgi had appeared for the government and sought two weeks adjournment on the issue.

The Court told the Solicitor General, “Are you saving the holy river. You are showing no urgency in this matter. But only in other matters.”

Highlights

SC raps Modi govt for lack of urgency in cleaning River Ganga

Apex Court slams govt for not setting priorities right

SC asks for status report on government’s action plan to make Ganga pollution free

Solicitor General Mukul Rohatgi had sought two weeks adjournment on the issue

PM Modi was elected in Lok Sabha from the riverside city Varanasi in May

Modi government allocated Rs 2,040 crore for a fresh ‘Ganga Mission’

The Court also sought a status report on the government’s action plan to make the Ganga pollution free along with the roadmap on the action to be taken and the steps in that direction.

Cleaning the holy river Ganga is believed to be one of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s pet projects.

Modi was elected in May to the Lok Sabha from the riverside city Varanasi and he had pledged to get the holy river clean referring it to as ‘Maa Ganga’.

The Apex Court has been dealing since last 19 years with a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) seeking to restore lost glory of river, which many even term as a ‘sewage line’.

In its first budget, Modi government had allocated Rs 2,040 crore for a fresh ‘Ganga Mission’.

Existence of Ganga in danger, says environment scientist Prof B D Tripathi

Ganga in danger: Prof B D Tripathi

New Delhi: Existence of Ganga in danger, says environment scientist Prof B D Tripathi

New Delhi, June 8 2014: The existence of Ganga is in danger and the pollution of the river is a secondary issue, a renowned environment scientist has said and urged the NDA government to launch a “Save Ganga” programme.

B D Tripathi, an expert member of National Ganga River Basin Authority (NGRBA), also requested the Narendra Modi government to make active the Prime Minister-chaired body saying it was virtually non-existent during the UPA rule. “My observation on the basis of my research for the past four decades is that the problem of pollution is secondary and the main problem now is the existence of Ganga. It is in danger,” Tripathi told PTI.

“The mission should be called Save Ganga not Clean Ganga,” he said.

According to him, Ganga is facing a problem of what he termed as ‘triple three’. “They are reduced water flow, reduced water carrying capacity and reduced water quality that is pollution,” he said.

Blaming the “indifferent attitude” of the previous government for the failure of the Ganga Action Plan, Tripathi said that considering the Modi government’s seriousness on Mission Ganga, NGRBA should be made functional now.

“Being an expert member of NGRBA, I have raised this issue several times but the previous government had an indifferent attitude towards this cause that resulted in failure of various projects so far.

“There have been only three meetings of NGRBA in the past four years. Now since Narendra Modi himself has mission Clean Ganga on his priority list, so it is high time to make NGRBA functional,” he said.

Tripathi, also a coordinator for Centre for Environmental Science and Technology at the Banaras Hindu University, has been associated with the cause since 1972. The Centre has given Ganga the status of national river and constituted NGRBA in February 2009. The objective of the authority is to ensure effective abatement of pollution and conservation of Ganga by adopting a river basin approach for comprehensive planning and management.

“Government has declared Ganga as a national river but till now there is no policy or planning made in this regard. Ganga flows through five states (Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Bihar and West Bengal) and they exploit it in their way,” Tripathi said.

“Centre gives 85 per cent of funds and rest 15 per cent is contributed by states but there has been no monitoring at any level. After five years, you come to know about the failure of the plan but who is accountable for that,” he asked.

He maintained that the Centre should see the problem in its entirety. “Almost Rs 1500 crore were spent on GAP 1 and projects amounting to Rs 20,000 crore are still running. Government must fix accountability and there should be monitoring after every three months. Monitoring committee should consist of technical experts,” he said.

Suggesting long term measures to address these problems, he said that there should be a complete

ban on construction of big dams at the source of its streams and usage of alternative power generating methods is must.

“Eight streams of Ganga originate from Gangotri glacier but the main ones are Bhagirathi, Mandakini and Alaknanda. All the proposed dams near the source should be cancelled. They can construct small dams,” he said.

According to Tripathi, the whole Uttarakhand region is low pressure zone where the wind velocity is very high so electricity can be generated through windmills like Europe. “As far as the reduction of ground water level is concerned, rainwater harvesting should be implemented strictly,” he suggested.