Ganga, Yamuna "no cleaner" now than 20 yrs ago: Ramesh

In a frank admission, the government today said in Lok Sabha that rivers Ganga and Yamuna were "no cleaner" now as they were two decades ago despite spending over Rs 1,700 crore.

"I admit with full responsibility that Ganga and Yamuna are no cleaner than 20 years ago," said Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh while responding to a Calling Attention Motion on checking pollution in rivers and lakes in India.

He said a "determined and renewed effort" was required to cleanse these major rivers.

To a question by BJP member Adityanath on the cleanliness of the two major rivers of North India, Ramesh said he could provide figures on their pollution levels but "I myself don't believe these numbers. ...For a layman, the answer is a depressing 'no'".

While over Rs 816 crore was spent on two phases of the Ganga Action Plan (GAP), Rs 682 crore was spent on the first phase of the Yamuna Action Plan (YAP) in the first phase and another Rs 190 crore on the second phase so far, he said.

Referring to the National Ganga River Basin Authority headed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, he said global tender for project consultants to prepare a basin management plan have attracted 30 bids and the selection would be done in the next two months.