"Let me assure the House that I will come back with a system to monitor action taken by the states against the defaulters who pollute the Ganga," Environment Minister Jayanthi Natarajan said replying to a discussion on the steps taken by the government to protect the river.
The minister also mooted declaring the entire stretch of the Ganga from its origin at Gaumukh in Uttarakhand till the river mouth in West Bengal as an eco-sensitive zone.
She said the government has identified 714 grossly polluting industries and letters have been issued to six industries to ensure compliance of discharge of treated waste in the river.
The state governments were being encouraged from time to time to set up sewer networks, sewage treatment plants, electric crematoria and develop river-fronts as part of steps to save the Ganga, she said.
Natarajan said 80 per cent waste emptied into the Ganga river was domestic waste while only 20 per cent was industrial effluents.
The Minister said the Centre has done its part by setting up sewage treatment plants but there were no sewer network, which was the responsibility of the urban local bodies.
She asked the state governments to make sure that the sewage treatment plants work and the sewer networks are connected to them. MORE
