National Ganga River Basin Authority (NGRBA) today approved several projects, including that for the development of ghats, crematoria and riverfront, costing around Rs 400 crore.
The government wants to develop ghats and crematoria along the river stretch between Rudraprayag and Guptkashi in Uttarakhand; in Kanpur, Bijnor, Allahabad and Bithur in Uttar Pradesh; Kahalgaon in Bihar and from Sahibganj to Rajmahal in Jharkhand.
Ghats and crematoria will be developed in Uttarakhand at Sumari, Tilwara, Silli, Augustmuni and Triveni at a cost of Rs 26 crore, a statement by the Ministry of Water Resources said.
Similar works will be undertaken in Allahabad and Bijnor, for which Rs 88.03 crore and Rs 12.19 crore, respectively, have been sanctioned.
Rs 63.80 crore has been sanctioned for "interception and diversion of flow" of Sisamau and other drains in Kanpur. Rs 70.11 crore will be spent for developing riverfront in Bithur.
For the construction and modernisation of ghats in Kahalgaon, an amount of Rs 23.64 crore has been approved.
An expenditure of Rs 42.26 crore will be made on development of ghats and crematoria along the stretch between Sahibganj and Rajmahal. Rs 6.26 crore will be spent on construction of electric crematoria in Bhatpara and Naihati.
An amount of Rs 11.16 crore has been approved for afforestation works in West Bengal.
The projects were cleared by the Empowered Steering Committee, an apex body that includes secretaries of ministries of water, environment, power and urban development and chief secretaries of the five states of the river's basin.
