The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, today gave its approval for establishment of the Clean Ganga Fund (CGF).The following broad activities will be financed from the Fund:

a) Activities outlined under the ‘Namami Gange’ programme for cleaning of river Ganga.

b) Control of non-point pollution from agricultural runoff, human defecation, cattle wallowing, etc.

c) Setting up of waste treatment and disposal plants along the river around the cities.

d) Conservation of the biotic diversity of the river.

e) Community based activities to reduce polluting human interface with the river.

f) Development of public amenities including activities such as Ghat redevelopment.

g) Research and Development and innovative projects.

h) Research and Development projects and innovative projects for new technology and processes for cleaning the river.

i) Independent oversight through intensive monitoring and real time reporting.

j) Any other activity as approved by the Trust.

Considering that the measures taken till now are inadequate and a national effort is required to mobilize resources for improving the condition of the river Ganga, the Government announced the setting up of an Integrated Ganga Conservation Mission called "Namami Gange" and an initial sum of Rs. 2,037 crore has been allocated in the Union Budget 2014-15. The Cabinet has now agreed to set up "Clean Ganga Fund (CGF)" with voluntary contributions from residents of the country and Non-Resident Indian (NRIs) / Person of Indian Origin (PIO) and others to harness their enthusiasm to contribute towards the conservation of the river Ganga. The Fund will have the objective of contributing to the national effort of cleaning of the river Ganga. Domestic donors to the Fund shall be eligible for tax benefits as applicable in the case of the Swachh Bharat Kosh. The Fund would be managed by a Trust to be headed by Finance Minister. The secretariat of the Trust will be set up in Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation under the Mission Director, Clean Ganga.

The Ganga Action Plan was launched on 14th January 1986 with the main objective of pollution abatement, to improve water quality by interception, diversion and treatment of domestic sewage and toxic and industrial chemical wastes present, from identified grossly polluting units entering in to the river. After reviewing the effectiveness of the "Ganga Action Plan", the Government announced the "Mission Clean Ganga" project on 31st December, 2009 with the objective that by 2020, no municipal sewage and industrial waste would be released in the river without treatment, with the total budget of around Rs.15,000 crore. The Government also established the National Ganga River Basin Authority (NGRBA), chaired by the Prime Minister, with the objective to ensure effective abatement of pollution and conservation of the river Ganga, by adopting a river basin approach for comprehensive planning and management.

The proposal to set up CGF is to attract private contributions globally for increasing people's participation in this massive task. As this would also cover NRIs, CGF would also fulfil the Budget announcement in the Regular Budget 2014-15. Considering that the measures taken till now are not adequate and a national effort is required to mobilize resources for improving the condition of the river Ganga, the Government has announced the setting up of an Integrated Ganga Conservation Mission called "Namami Gange".

Considering that there is a need to increase people's participation from across the country and abroad, it is proposed to set up a "Clean Ganga Fund (CGF)" with voluntary contributions. The main features of CGF are:

i. CGF will have the objective of contributing to the national effort of improving the cleanliness of the river Ganga with the contributions received from the residents of the country, NRIs/ PIO and others.

ii. CGF will be operated through a bank account by a Trust.

iii. Domestic donors to the fund shall be eligible for tax benefits as in the case of "Swachch Bharat Kosh". Foreign donors could get suitable tax exemptions in domestic law, wherever permissible.

iv. CGF will explore the possibility of setting up daughter funds in other jurisdictions/countries of high donor interest such as USA, UK, Singapore, UAE, etc. to enable tax benefits to donors in their respective jurisdictions.

v. CGF will be catalytic in nature and will identify and fund specific projects which could be pilot projects, R&D projects, innovative projects or other focused projects. The Fund will define specific and measurable objectives to form the basis for planning, funding, and evaluation.

Ref: http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=109993

Union Budget 2014-15 has taken cognizance of the substantial amount of money spent in the conservation and improvement of the Ganga, which has a very special place in a collective consciousness of this country. However, the efforts are not yielded desired results because of the lack of concerted efforts by all the stakeholders.

Accordingly, an Integrated Ganga Conservation Mission called “Namami Gange” has been proposed to be set up and a sum of Rs. 2,037 crores has been set aside for this purpose. In addition a sum of Rs. 100 crores has been allocated for developments of Ghats and beautification of River Fronts at Kedarnath, Haridwar, Kanpur, Varanasi, Allahabad, Patna and Delhi in the current financial year.

Accordingly, Namami Gange approaches Ganga Rejuvenation by consolidating the existing ongoing efforts and planning for a concrete action plan for future. The interventions at Ghats and River fronts will facilitate better citizen connect and set the tone for river centric urban planning process.

Recognizing the multi-sectoral, multi-dimensional and multi-stakeholder nature of the Ganga Rejuvenation challenge, the key Ministries comprising of (a) WR, RD&GR, (b) Environment, Forests & Climate Change, (c) Shipping, (d) Tourism, (e) Urban Development, (f) Drinking Water and Sanitation and Rural Development have been working together since June, 2014 to arrive at an action plan. The concerned Ministers have nominated a Group of Secretaries to develop a draft action plan and have held periodical meetings to review the progress and provide guidance. The Group of Secretaries submitted its initial report on 21st July, 2014 and after taking into account the feedback received from the Hon’ble Ministers, the final report has been submitted on 28th August, 2014.

While the report is being examined in the Ministry, NMCG has been working in parallel on a draft strategy taking into account all these developments.

As already identified in the report of the GoS, the long-term vision will emanate from the Ganga River Basin Management Plan being prepared by the Consortium of 7 IITs, first version of which is likely to be available by the end of this year.

On a medium term basis, certain interventions both infrastructure and non-infrastructure need to be introduced to set the tone for implementation of long term vision as also take up so called “no regret” activities in the interim. Following are proposed to be taken up under Namami Gange:

(i) Nirmal Dhara- ensuring sustainable municipal sewage management

• Project prioritization in coordination with Ministry of Urban Development.
• Incentive for states to take up projects on Ganga Main-stem by providing an additional share of central grants for sewerage infrastructure.
• Uniform standards for both MoUD scheme and Namami Gange programme, 10 years mandatory O&M by the same service provider at par with NGRBA programme and PPP, Mandatory reuse of treated water
• Expanding coverage of sewerage infrastructure in 118 urban habitations on banks of Ganga- estimated cost by MoUD is Rs 51000 Crores

(ii) Nirmal Dhara- managing sewage from Rural Areas

• Mo DWS scheme for all Ganga bank Gram Panchayts (1632) free from open defecation by 2022, at a cost of Rs 1700 Crores as central share

(iii) Nirmal Dhara- managing Industrial discharge

• Making ZLD mandatory
• Rationalized water tariff to encourage reuse
• Real time water quality monitoring

(iv) Aviral Dhara

• Enforcing River Regulatory Zones on Ganga Banks
• Rational agricultural practices, efficient irrigation methods
• Restoration and conservation of wetlands

(v) Ensuring ecological rejuvenation by conservation of aquatic life and biodiversity

(vi) Promotion of Tourism and Shipping in a rational and sustainable manner

(vii) Knowledge Management on Ganga through Ganga Knowledge Centre leading to a Ganga University of River Sciences

However, to control the spread of pollution and to contain it in manageable limits certain interventions would be necessary in short term. Group of Secretaries under guidance of Hon’ble Ministers has identified following activities:

i) Scheme for rehabilitation and up-gradation of existing STPs along Ganga

ii) Ensuring 100% sewerage infrastructure in identified town alongside Ganga

iii) In situ sewage treatment in open drains

iv) Support for preparation of DPRs

v) River Front Management for Ghat’s developments in selected cities and towns

vi) Industrial pollution abatement at Kanpur on priority

vii) Action Plan for Char Dham Yatra –Public amenities, waste disposal and sanitation

viii) Capacity building of urban local bodies

ix) Afforestation – Conservation of Flora

x) Conservation of Aquatic life – special attention on Dolphin, Turtles and Ghariyals etc.

xi) Disposal of flowers and other puja material

xii) Ganga Vahini

xiii) GIS data and Spatial Analysis for Ganga basin

xiv) Study of communities depending on Ganga for their traditional livelihood

xv) National Ganga Monitoring Centre

xvi) Special guidelines for sand mining in Ganga

xvii) Assessment of Special Properties of Ganga Water

xviii) Communication and Public Outreach Activities

NRI Ganga Fund

NRIs have been a very important contributor to the development process in India, in areas such as education, health and preservation of culture. In this context, to harness their enthusiasm to contribute towards the conservation of the river Ganga, NRI Fund for Ganga will be set up which will finance special projects. NRI Ganga Fund could be setup under the aegis of Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs or Ministry of Finance with focus on funds sourcing and corpus management

Fund deployment/ appropriation could be made by NMCG under an approved Management Plan.

Ref: http://nmcg.nic.in/NamamiGanga.aspx