River Ganga cannot be kept clean by focusing only on riverbank cities: NMCG

New Delhi: Keeping the Ganga clean needs interventions not only in cities built along the river but also those across its basin, as wastewater from these areas eventually flows into the river system, the National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) said on Thursday.

The mission cited the example of Meerut, where the Namami Gange programme is being implemented.

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"Meerut is not located on the main course of the Ganga. The Ganga cannot be seen from here. Yet, the water from every drain and every sewer line here eventually flows into that very Ganga system. In the language of river science, this is called a basin, and the truth is that the Ganga can remain as clean as its entire basin remains clean," the mission said in a post on X.

"If the cities on the banks get beautified but the cities in the basin remain overlooked, the pollution will circle back and reach the river anyway. That is why the Namami Gange initiative reached Meerut," it added.

The mission said Meerut had for decades grappled with a limited sewage network amid rapid urbanisation, and its wastewater management struggled to keep pace with the expansion.

In 2020, a Rs 691-crore sewerage project was approved to address the challenge. Construction began in 2024 and is still underway, it said.

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A total sewage treatment capacity of 220 million litres per day (MLD), modern sewage treatment plants (STPs), an extensive sewer network and scientific wastewater management, reuse of treated water are its aims.

By connecting more and more areas of the city to the sewer network, it is ensured that Meerut's wastewater does not reach the Ganga system untreated, the NMCG said.

"When such a large city in the basin starts accounting for every drop, its impact will be visible far downstream in the main channel. The Ganga is not just a river; it is a system. And a system changes only when every city in it changes," it added.