Govt plans strict action against factories polluting Ganga

Friday July 03, 2015 , 3 min Read

Union Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar has said that the Centre will take stringent action against the factories which are responsible for polluting Ganga and several methods are being prepared to conserve the river. Speaking at the two-day consultation for preparing Detail Project Report (DPR) for the ‘Swachh Ganga’ Campaign, Javadekar said that the factories which are based on the banks of Ganga is one of the major reason for the pollution.

630 such factories have been identified which are polluting Ganga, out of which 440 leather factories are further identified which are based in Kanpur and nearby areas, he said, adding that a plan is being prepared to stop these 440 factories to cause more harm to the river. The minister said that the other 190 factories will be installed with Censor device, which will record and monitor the pollution level 24×7.

Javadekar also said that strict action will be taken against the factories which do not imply pollution control methords. As part of its mission to clean the Ganges, the Centre will spend Rs 30,000 crore in the next four years on conservation by strengthening the livelihood of the people living along the banks of the river.

According to PTI, Union Water Resources Minister Uma Bharti also said that the protection of the Ganga is economics and not only a religious issue. Inaugurating the Detailed Project Report preparation of forestry intervention for Ganga at Dehradun, Bharti called upon the youth to join in the Mission and underlined the need to harmonise policies made at the higher level with the needs of the grass-roots level.

Some 50 crore people depend on Ganga for their livelihood. Half of those who depend on it would lose their “lifeline” if it were to go dry. It’s therefore imperative to maintain uninterrupted flow of the river, she said. “Ganga is not only a river with religious importance but many people depend on it for their livelihood. We want the (clean Ganga) campaign to be associated with employment and livelihood,” she said.

The Water Resources Ministry will spend Rs 30,000 crore in the next four years as part of its Namami Gange Mission to strengthen the livelihood of the bankside dwellers, Bharti said. On the pollution of the river by effluent-discharging industries, Environment and Forests Minister Prakash Javadekar said 630 such industries were identified.

“As much as 630 polluting industries were identified along Ganga of which 440 belonged to tanneries mainly near Kanpur. Most of such industries have prepared themselves to create pollution monitoring system at their installations,” he said.

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