Expenditure on Ganga River Cleaning Cleaning of river is a continuous process. The Government has launched Namami Gange Programme covering short term, medium term and long term activities, Under Short term activities certain entry level activities which cover development of Ghats crematoria and river surface cleaning activities etc have been taken up. Under Medium term activities existing Sewage Treatment Plant (STP) and Effluent Treatment Plant (ETP) are being upgraded and new STP and ETPs are being established. Beside, rural sanitation has been taken up in the villages on the banks of river Ganga. The long term action plans involves restoration of wholesomeness of river Ganga, and maintaining the ecological and geological integrity of river. Efforts are being made to complete Short term and Medium term projects by 2020. Namami Gange Programme has been launched as a holistic approach covering all existing ongoing projects and new initiative. Under Namami Gange Programme 163 projects for various activities such as sewage infrastructure, river front development, Ghat and crematoria, Ghat cleaning, rural sanitation etc. has been sanctioned. Out of 163 projects, 41 numbers of projects have been completed so far. In these completed projects 223.13 Mld of sewage capacity have been created alongwith 1338.99 Km of sewer network. An amount of Rs. 1,941.86 crore has been spent against the allocated amount of Rs. 3,633.00 crore from 2014-15 to 2017-18 (till 30.06.2017). This information was given by Union Minister of State for Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation Dr. Sanjeev Kumar Balyan in a written reply in Lok Sabha today. Samir/jk
