Government working on including criminal provisions in law on River Ganga

NEW DELHI: The government is in the advanced stages of preparing the final draft of a law, which will incorporate criminal provisions, in its bid to abate pollution and maintain sustainable cleanliness in River Ganga.

The Union Water Resources Ministry is working with different ministries including the ministries of environment, urban development and law and justice in this regard, sources said.

"We have received four drafts for the purpose. We are in the advanced stage of preparing the law, whose objectives are abating pollution and maintaining sustainable cleanliness in the river," an official source, who is privy to the developments, said.

The Centre in March had said that it will enact a law for permanent protection of river Ganga from pollution with Prime Minister Narendra Modi pitching for an "uncompromising mission-mode approach" to stop its further pollution.

Meanwhile, the Centre has also come up with several plans for preventing untreated sewage and effluents from directly entering the river, besides clearing trash, which makes way into the river during cremation on ghats.

As part of it, a pilot project is being launched in eight places on the banks of Ganga this June, where boatmen would be engaged in clearing trash on the river surface and transporting it to dumping yards, likely to be created for the purpose.

"Boatmen would be paid incentives through urban local bodies for collecting the trash associated with cremation, culture and religious customs on the river surface," the source said, adding that the project would be implemented through Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).

The eight places include Allahabad, Kanpur, Varanasi, Mathura, Vrindavan, Sahibganj, and Nabadweep.

This apart, the water resources ministry is also exploring possibilities of other river surface pollution like engaging trash skimmer machines, aerators, river surface cleaning boats, besides boom for arresting floating materials with contributions from NRIs.