Centre may bring in legislation to clean Ganga in consultation with states

ALLAHABAD: Asserting that there was a need to follow a policy of "zero discharge of effluents" to clean the Ganga, the Centre today said that it was considering bringing in a legislation in this regards in consultation with the states through which the river flows.

"The Narendra Modi government has always maintained that it was committed to cleaning the river Ganga. To achieve this goal, it is important to ensure that there was zero discharge of effluents in the river.

"We are working in the direction of bringing in a legislation to ensure that no effluents, be it sewage or industrial waste, is discharged into the Ganga.

"The legislation will be brought in after due consultation with all the states through which the Ganga passes," Union Minister for Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation Uma Bharti said.

She was addressing a conclave, on the outskirts of the city, attended by collectors and other administrative officials of more than 50 districts spread across five states where gram pradhans of more than 1000 villages situated along the Ganga were also present.

Among others who were present on the occasion included Union Minister for Rural Development, Panchayati Raj and Drinking Water and Sanitation Narendra Singh Tomar.

Tomar said the government was working to ensure that the country was rid of open defecation "within a year" and that the Swachchh Bharat Abhiyan was a big step in that direction.

In the morning, the ministers also paid floral tributes to revolutionary freedom fighter Chandrashekhar Azad.

Bharti also congratulated badmintion player PV Sindhu, who won silver medal at the Rio Olympics, saying "her achievement has brought glory to the women of the entire country."