New UP government will help fast-track implementation of Namami Gange prog: Uma Bharati

NEW DELHI: The BJP dislodging the Samajwadi Party government in Uttar Pradesh will help fast-track the implementation of Namami Gange programme, Union minister Uma Bharati said today.

The Union Water Resources Minister alleged that the previous Akhilesh Yadav dispensation in the UP was the only non-BJP state government in Ganga basin which did not cooperate with the Centre on cleaning the river.

Uttarakhand, Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal are the other basin states from where the river flows.

"We never had problems with Bihar or West Bengal (which have non-BJP governments). Or even with the previous (Congress-led) Uttarakhand government. We faced problems only in Uttar Pradesh. But with that hindrance gone, Ganga works can be fast-tracked," Bharati said.

Of the total 2525-km length of Ganga, around 1000 km, the longest stretch among basin states, falls in Uttar Pradesh.

The BJP has formed governments in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand, dislodging Samajwadi Party and Congress respectively, in the recently held assembly polls.