Ganga Mahasabha welcomes KFW initiative on Ganga

Ganga Mahasabha has welcomed the proposal of signing of memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the ministry of water resources and the German Development Bank (KFW) for providing clean drinking water and cleaning of Ganga. The president of Ganga Mahasabha said that he was elated over the fact that sewage treatment plants would be supervised by the German experts in Haridwar and Rishikesh and modern technology would be used for providing clean drinking water.

Notably, during a recent meeting between the State chief secretary and officials of German development bank, a proposal has been placed  under which Rs 960 crores would be provided to Uttarakhand for cleaning of Ganga and construction of 15 sewage treatment plants. The appraisal work for the same has already been completed.

Speaking to The Pioneer on Friday, president Ganga Mahasabha Purushottam Sharma Gandhiwadi said, “I am elated to know about this development under Namami Gange mission. A few months ago the German officials came to the holy city and performed worship at Har Ki Paidi. God is manifest in Ganga. Ramakrishna Paramhansa called it sakhsat Brahmvari’ (the river of ganga is Brahman personified).” He further said that the  project should be completed in two years ahead of the next Kumbh Mela.

Notably, in April 2015, when the Prime Minister Narendra Modi had met the German Chancellor Dr Angela Merkel at the Hannover Fair, Ganga rejuvenation had been discussed. To take things to the logical conclusion,  India and Germany had signed an agreement to adopt the best practices of the river basin management strategies of the European rivers Rhine and Danube to rejuvenate Ganga. The project duration is of three years (from 2016 to 2018) and Germany's financial contribution was said to be to the tune of nearly Rs 22.5 crores.

Asked about this recent proposal, the director technical Namami Gange programme said, “Talks are on with KFW and a meeting is scheduled on Friday too. The proposal is about developing big and small STPs in city areas and providing clean drinking water facilities.

In Sarai and Jagjeetpur villages, we have already have started work of enhancing the existing capacity of sewage treatment plants. At Sarai village, the capacity is 14 million litres per day and it is being enhanced to 18 MLDs. The same is happening in Jagjeetpur village too.”