BJP MP Varun Gandhi on Tuesday questioned the success of the NDA government’s flagship scheme ‘Namami Gange’ and asked why there is a river Ganga even after spending Rs 11,000 crore.
The Namami Gange programme, which comes under the Ministry of Jal Shakti headed by Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, was started by the government in 2014-15. The government had allocated Rs 20,000 crore for the scheme for the period 2015-2020.
Questioning the success of the scheme, Gandhi also asked who was responsible for the condition of the river.
“Ganga is not just a river for us, it is a mother. Mother Ganga is the basis of life, religion and the existence of crores of countrymen. Therefore, a budget of Rs 20,000 was made for Namami Gange. (Ganga is not just a river for us, (she) is (our) mother. Ganga
is the basis of life, religion and the existence of crores of countrymen. Hence a budget of Rs 20,000 crore was allocated for Namami Gange),” He said in a tweet.
“Why pollution despite spending Rs 11,000 crore? Ganga is a life-giver, then why do fish die because of dirty water? What kind of java? (Why is this despite spending Rs 11,000 crore? Ganga is the lifeline, then why are the fish (here) dying due to dirty water? Whose accountability?”
He also attached a video to his tweet.
As per a written reply by Bishweswar Tudu, Minister of State for Jal Shakti, to Lok Sabha on July 21, the government has released Rs 12,109.72 crore to the National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) during 2014-15 to 2021-22, which comes under the Ministry of Jal Shakti and is responsible for the implementation of the government’s ambitious Namami Gange program. Out of which, the NMCG has released Rs 11,731.56 crore to states. Out of Rs 11,731.56 crore released to the states and Union Territories, the maximum amount of Rs 3,938.24 crore has been released to Uttar Pradesh. The state is followed by Bihar (Rs 2,875.77 crore) and Delhi (1,253.86 crores.)
“Under the Namami Gange Programme, 161 sewerage infrastructure projects have been taken up with a sanctioned cost of Rs 24581 crore for construction and rehabilitation of 5015 Million Liters Per Day (MLD) of Sewage Treatment Plant (STP) capacity and 5,134 km. Capacity has been built. sewerage network, out of which 92 projects have been completed, resulting in creation and rehabilitation of 1,643 MLD STP capacity and 4,156 km of sewerage network laid,” Tudu informed the House.
