NAMAMI AND ARTH GANGA - ENVIRONMENT
News: ‘Clean
Ganga’ changes course to conservation, tourism, livelihood
What's in the news?
● Marking
a shift in emphasis, the Union Government’s flagship Namami Gange programme,
conceived to improve the sanitation levels in the Ganga River is now geared
towards conservation, tourism and
providing economic livelihoods.
Key takeaways:
● At
a meeting, earlier this week, of the top body tasked with coordinating Namami
Gange activities and chaired by Union Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh
Shekhawat the thrust of decisions focused on having the Tourism Ministry develop a “comprehensive plan” for
developing tourism circuits along the Ganga in line with “Arth Ganga,” organic
farming and cultural activities.
● Arth
Ganga, or harnessing economic potential from the Ganga, follows from a
directive by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in December 2019 after chairing a
similar meeting of the Ganga taskforce.
● Proceedings
of the meeting, held on December 8, suggest that along with developing “tourism circuits” the Jal Shakti
Ministry was planning exhibitions and fairs in 75 towns along the main stem of
the river.
● The
Agriculture Ministry was taking steps to build organic farming and natural farming corridors.
● The
Urban Affairs Ministry was focussed on mapping
drains and solid waste management.
● The
Environment Ministry was scaling up afforestation
and scaling up conservation efforts to protect the Gangetic river dolphin.
What is Arth-Ganga?
● PM
Modi first introduced the concept during the first National Ganga Council meeting in Kanpur in 2019, where he urged
for a shift from Namami Gange, the Union Government’s flagship project to clean
the Ganga, to the model of Arth-Ganga.
● Arth-Ganga
focuses on the sustainable development
of the Ganga and its surrounding areas, by focusing on economic activities
related to the river.
● At
its core, the Arth-Ganga model seeks to use
economics to bridge people with the river.
● Therefore,
Arth-Ganga concept can be summarized as a river-people connection through the
economic bridge to ensure the sustainability of these activities under “Namami
Gange”, the flagship programme of the Government to clean Ganga and its
tributaries.
“SIX VERTICALS” FEATURES OF ARTH GANGA:
1. Zero Budget Natural Farming
- involves chemical-free farming on 10 km on either side of the river, and the
promotion of cow dung as fertilizer through the GOBARdhan scheme.
2. The Monetization and Reuse of Sludge and Wastewater
- seeks to reuse lose treated water for irrigation, industries and revenue
generation for Urban Local Bodies (ULBs).
3. Livelihood Generation Opportunities
- by creating haats where people can sell local products, medicinal plants and
ayurveda.
4. Increase public participation
- by increasing synergies between the stakeholders involved with the river.
5. Promotion of the cultural heritage and tourism of
Ganga and its surroundings - through boat tourism,
adventure sports and by conducting yoga activities.
6. Institutional building
- by empowering local administration for improved water governance.
Recent initiatives launched under Project Arth-Ganga:
1. Jalaj Initiative:
● Jalaj
is being implemented in association with Wildlife
Institute of India.
● A
trained cadre of Ganga Praharis have been created from among the local people
by WII for biodiversity conservation and Ganga rejuvenation.
● Jalaj,
an innovative mobile livelihood center,
is aimed at aligning the skill enhancement activities with Ganga conservation.
2. MoU was signed between NMCG and Sahakar Bharati:
● To
achieve the vision of a sustainable and viable economic development by public participation, creation and
strengthening of local cooperatives directing their cooperation towards
realizing the mandate of Arth Ganga.
3. ImAvatar:
● A
tourism related portal ImAvatar to promote livelihood
opportunities along the Ganga basin by promoting Arth Ganga initiative
through tourism, marketing of local products, both agriculture and handicrafts.
4. New course ‘River Champ’ on CLAP:
● The
continuous learning and activity portal
(CLAP) is an online platform for raising awareness, actions and debates
around river conservation in India.
Go back to basics:
Causes of Pollution in River Ganga:
1. Natural Causes:
● Soil erosion
due to rains, deposition of dead and decaying remains of plants and animals,
high-speed winds, floods, etc., are some of the natural phenomena that
contribute to water pollution.
2. Man-Made Causes:
● The
mixing of sewage disposal and industrial waste in the River Ganga causes
pollution.
● Our
national river is one of the most polluted rivers in the country, and one of
the 10 most threatened river basins in the world.
● The
quality of the Ganges is decreasing steadily. Due to the mixing of wastages, the water of Ganga is not only unfit for
drinking but also harmful to agricultural purposes.
● The
level of Coliform bacteria, a type
of bacteria that indicates the purity of water, must be below 50 for drinking
and above 5000 for agricultural purposes. The present stage of Coliform in the
Ganga is 5500.
● Disposal of dead bodies,
immersion of idols of gods and goddesses into water bodies during various
festivals in India degrade the quality of water. Such water pollution can
affect the ecosystem of the river.
Namami Gange:
● Namami
Gange Programme is an Integrated Conservation Mission, approved as a ‘Flagship Programme’ by the Union
Government in June 2014.
● It
aims to accomplish the twin objectives
of effective abatement of pollution and conservation and rejuvenation of
National River Ganga.
● The
Vision for Ganga Rejuvenation includes restoring
the Aviral Dhara (Continuous Flow) and Nirmal Dhara (Unpolluted Flow).
● It
is being operated under the Department of Water Resources, River Development
and Ganga Rejuvenation, Ministry of Jal Shakti.
● The
programme is being implemented by the National
Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG), and its state counterpart organizations i.e
State Program Management Groups (SPMGs).
● The
major areas of the programme are as follows.
○ Sewage
Treatment Infrastructure
○ River-Front
Development
○ River-Surface
Cleaning
○ Biodiversity
○ Afforestation
○ Public
Awareness
○ Industrial
Effluent Monitoring
○ Ganga
Gram.
Significance of Namami Gange Plan:
● The
river is central to the sustenance
of nearly 43% of the country's population. It aids in agriculture, fisheries,
and provides water for domestic as well as industrial use.
● With
rising urbanization, the river has
become more exposed to pollution -
Only one-third of the sewage that is generated along the basin gets treated
while the rest finds its way into the river.
● Nearly
20% of the toxic pollutants that
flow into the river come from industries.
● Further
sources of pollution include agricultural
runoff, animal carcasses, floral offerings, plastic waste and open defecation
along the river.
● This
has given rise to water-borne diseases
such as cholera, typhoid, dysentery and a severe shortage of clean drinking
water.
● The
river is also undergoing ecological
changes Induced by the construction of dams in the upper course that has
restricted flow down the river stream.
● Namami
Gange provides for a river-basin approach that allows basin states to cooperate
in the cleaning of the river.
● River
ecology is also damaged by illegal sand
mining along the river bed; this adversely impacts the carrying capacity of
the river and makes it prone to floods.
Challenges:
1. Large catchment area
- that stretches across 26% of the country and covers nearly 11 states.
Cleaning the river in its entirety is a difficult task.
2. Slow Implementation
- attributable to delays in tendering, non-availability of land, legal issues,
pending approvals, etc.
3. No clear blueprint
- Supreme Court has also questioned the government for a lack of detailed and
feasible plan to address growing pollution in the river.
4. Inadequate staff
- The NMCG responsible for the implementation of the program lacks the sanctioned
strength and officers also juggle between different roles and duties.
5. Waste Management
- Inadequate finances and resources with local bodies cripple their ability to
treat sewage produced in cities. This finds its way into the river.
6. Technical and Engineering
- Some of the worst polluted stretches of the river are across UP, Kanpur being
the worst in terms of Biological Oxygen Demand. Treating the highly toxic
sludge requires advanced treatment technology.
WAY FORWARD:
1. Sewage treatment:
● Attracting corporates
to operate sewage treatment plants, encouraging composting to reduce waste
generation and augmenting finances of local bodies so as to improve their
capacity in waste management.
2. Managing rural waste:
● Incorporating Seechewal
model that involves community participation,
waste segregation, composting and treatment of waste-water through oxidation.
● This
is a viable model for managing rural waste.
● Also,
encouraging a two-pit solution over septic tanks can help in better management
of solid waste.
3. Checking Industrial effluents:
● Strengthening CPCB for
enforcement of pollution norms and encouraging
Industries to install Common effluent treatment plants.
● Further,
real-time monitoring of effluents is
essential for arresting Industrial pollution.
● Relocating
industries from severely polluted stretches is also a need of the hour.
4. Maintaining minimum flows:
● Hydroelectric
projects and river-linking projects planned on the basin should be undertaken
after a comprehensive basin study and should not impact the flow in the river
basin.
5. Sustainable farming:
● Promoting
sustainable farming practices particularly in terms of fertilizer and pesticide
use will help in reducing farm runoffs that pollute the river.
● Ganga
basin must also get priority focus under the Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana that seeks to promote organic
farming
6. Reclamation and restoration:
● Reclamation,
restoration, prevention of encroachment and conservation of wetlands along the
Ganges basin will restore the river ecology and also ensure ecosystem services.
● Involving local
communities and forest dwellers in the
afforestation program which must be suited to the local ecology.
● Watershed management
to promote groundwater recharge so as to reduced pressure on the river.
7. Sustainable tourism:
● Encourage
tourism across basin states and dedicate a fraction of revenues earned thereof
to the Namami Ganga Program.
8. Waste Management:
● Effective
and continuous management of waste and measures to ensure minimum discharge in
the river are the twin pillars on which the success of the Namami Gange program
stands.