The NMCG has completed 22 projects and sanctioned 17 new projects related to Sewerage Infrastructure, Ghat and Crematoria, Pollution Abatement, Afforestation, Biodiversity etc. in 2020 at a total cost of Rs. 557.83 crores. Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi inaugurated the 43 MLD Beur STP (Rs.78 crores) and 37 MLD Karmalichak STP (Rs.73 crores) in Patna on 15th September, 2020. Apart from this, the Prime Minister also laid the foundation stone for River Front Development Scheme under Namami Gange in Muzaffarpur. Three Ghats, namely, East Akhara Ghat, Sidhi Ghat and Chandwara Ghat of Muzaffarpur city will be developed under this scheme.
Prime Minister also dedicated to the nation various STP projects of Uttarakhand on 29th September, 2020 namely 68 MLD STP at Jagjeetpur, Haridwar; Upgradation of 27 MLD STP at Jagjeetpur, Haridwar& 18 MLD STP at Sarai, Haridwar; 26 MLD STP at Lakkadghat, Rishikesh; 7.5 MLD STP at Chandreshwar Nagar and 5 MLD at Chorpani in Muni Ki Reti & 1 MLD and 0.01 MLD STP at Badrinath. All major projects have been completed in Uttarakhand (120.5 MLD capacity created in Haridwar, Rishikesh and Muni-ki-Reti). Infamous Chandereshwar Nagar Naala at Muni-ki-Reti tapped and it no longer drains into the Ganga, the Jal Shakti Ministry said in its year end review.
Jal Shakti Ministry said, for the first time, Namami Gange has been included under the Prime Minister’s Awards for Excellence for Public Administration Scheme for recognizing the efforts of district-level officials. Under this award category, one award shall be given to a district out of the 57 notified DGCs under the Mission. NMCG has released/achieved an amount of Rs. 1,452.40 crores from January, 2020 to November, 2020 for implementation of infrastructure projects, beautifications of Ghats, forestry interventions etc. to the State Programme Management Groups, Central Public Sector Undertakings and State Forest Departments.
The Second National Ganga River Basin Project (Ganga – II) was approved by the World Bank Board on 25th June 2020 for US$ 400 million (Rs. 3023.10 crores). The Department of Economic Affairs, Government of India and the World Bank signed the loan agreement on July 7, 2020. The Loan would be for a period of 5 years up to December 2026. Ganga Quest 2020, a competitive knowledge-building platform to assess the knowledge and awareness of the youth, school children and the general public towards issues related with environment, river conservation and bio-diversity etc. was organized from 22nd April 2020 (World Earth Day). The contest ended on 30th May, 2020 and the winners were announced on 5th June, 2020 (World Environment Day). A Digital Initiative, the Quiz received an overwhelming response with participation of more than 11.5 lakh individuals from all over country and NRIs and others from abroad, in spite of the lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The bilingual nature of the quiz helped it reach out to students in remote areas, where people are more comfortable in Hindi.
Ganga Utsav 2020, a three days cultural and educational festival, was organized by NMCG from 2nd to 4th November 2020 to celebrate the glory of holy river Ganga. This Utsav included variety of events including storytelling, folklores, dialogues with eminent personalities, quizzes, displaying traditional art forms, dance & music performance by renowned artists, photo galleries, exhibitions and much more, said the ministry.
Organic farming has been taken up for more than 50,000 hectares of land in 7 districts in Uttarakhand and on a 35,780-hectare land area in Uttar Pradesh in 11 districts. 13 districts along Ganga in Bihar have also embarked upon organic farming. On 13th March 2020, Flag-In Ganga Ceremony was held for the Ganga Aamantran Abhiyan. The 34 days long river rafting expedition from Devprayag to Gangasagar is the biggest social outreach program through adventure sports for rejuvenation of Ganga connecting with lakhs of people in route.
An MoU was signed between NMCG, Indorama Charitable Trust and SMCG-Uttrakhand on 24th February 2020, an important CSR initiative under which Indorama Charitable trust would be investing about 26 crores for construction, renovation of bathing ghats and crematoria with all the basic public amenities in order to provide the devotees a fulfilling experience and Ganga Darshan at Gangotri and Badrinath.
