Government to Rope in CPSUs in Namami Gange Programme With the aim of expediting the progress of works under the flagship scheme of Namami Gange, Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation is initiating a number of entry level activities during Jan-March 2016 which will lead to visible results in a short time frame. These activities will include repair, modernization and provision of public amenities at ghats, cleaning of the river surface, treatment of directly discharging drains in villages along Ganga and repair, renovation and construction of crematoria. These activities will deploy improvised wood based cremation platforms, advanced trash skimming machines for removal of floating solid wastes, bio-toilets and bio remediation based sewage treatment in rural areas. The pollution being discharged into the river from open drains in rural areas is being addressed for the first time. In the medium term the Ministry is targeting creation of sewage treatment infrastructure on priority in all 118 cities and towns on the banks of Ganga. For this purpose, condition assessment of the existing infrastructure, their capacity utilization and remaining gap in treatment capacity as also feasibility for new infrastructure will also be assessed through a comprehensive study. After completion of this assessment the project would be undertaken on Public Private Partnership (PPP) basis in Ganga basin and actual work will be undertaken by eligible firms selected through tendering process. These activities will not only be undertaken along Ganga, but the cities and towns on major tributaries namely Yamuna, Ramganga and Kali will also be included. To take up these activities immediately, the Ministry has roped in the leading Central Public Sector Undertakings (CPSUs). These CPSUs include Engineers India Ltd. (EIL), National Buildings Construction Corporation (NBCC), WAPCOS Ltd., National Projects Construction Corporation Ltd. (NPCC), and Engineering Projects India Ltd. For effective administration of these activities, the Ministry has divided the entire length of Ganga in five stretches coinciding with the boundaries of the states and allocated them to these CPSUs. These PSUs will take up the entry level activities and the assessment work in their designated stretches and will be responsible for implementation. This is expected to quick start the implementation process and facilitate easy scale up of these activities along the length of Ganga. The Ministry is also institutionalizing a robust review and monitoring mechanism by roping in third party appraisal agencies from both public and private sector, State agencies, Urban Local bodies and Panchayati Raj Institutions. Contemporary audit tools including social audit and community monitoring is also being considered. Samir/
