Twenty projects to the tune of Rs.1900 crore have been approved for swift implementation in Uttarakhand, Delhi and Uttar Pradesh by the Executive Committee of the National Mission for Clean Ganga.
Of the projects, 13 are in Uttarakhand, and three are in National Capital Territory, said a senior officer of the Water Resources Ministry here on Wednesday.
The main projects approved for swift implementation include a sewage treatment plant in Haridwar, and laying of sewage networks in Haridwar at an estimated cost of Rs 415 crore. In the National Capital, a new state-of-the-art 564 MLD Okhla sewage treatment plant with best effluent standards has also been approved at an estimated cost of Rs.665 crore that would replace its existing STPs phase-I, II, III and IV.
According to the Ministry, the main approved plan in Hardiwar would treat sewage water generated by 1.5 lakh local dwellers and the people visiting this holy city. “All these projects will be fully funded by the Central Government…. and even the expenditure on operation and maintenance would be paid by the Union government,” the Ministry said.
Among other projects approved in Uttarakhand, four pertain to pollution abatement works for river Alakananda to ensure cleaner flow of the river downstream. The projects include interception and diversion of drains along with creation of new small STPs at four crucial locations ~ Joshimath, Rudraprayag, Karnprayag and Kirti Nagar ~ at an estimated cost of nearly Rs.78 crore.
Apart from these, a major pollution abatement project for Ganga at Rishikesh has also been approved at an estimated cost of more than Rs.158 crore. The construction of a new 26 MLD STP at Lakkar Ghat with online monitoring system has also been envisaged in this Rishikesh-specific project.
Other than 564 MLD Okhla sewage treatment plant in Delhi, two more projects for laying new sewage pipelines in Pitampura and Kondli has been approved at a cost of Rs.100 crore to prevent leakages. In Varanasi, a hybrid-annuity PPP model project worth Rs.151 crore has been given the green signal to address the issue of pollution of Ganga in Varanasi.