Centre asks UP govt to clean all 35 drains in Allahabad

New Delhi: Ahead of the 2019 Mahakumbh, the Centre on Wednesday asked the Uttar Pradesh government to expedite the process of cleaning all 35 drains in Allahabad that meet river Ganga.

Director General, National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) Rajiv Ranjan Mishra reviewed the progress of projects under Namami Gange programme in UP and requested the state's chief secretary for active involvement of 26 district Ganga committees to be constituted for rejuvenation of the river, a statement by the Ministry of Water Resources and Ganga Rejuvenation said.

While reviewing all 30 sewerage projects being undertaken in UP under Namami Gange programme, the NMCG urged the state government to complete eight of the 10 ongoing projects by December and start work on the remaining sanctioned projects at the earliest, it said.

In addition, the UP administration was also asked to complete the repair, rehabilitation and construction work of 87 ghats along the river. During the meeting, there was also a detailed discussion on the preparations for Mahakumbh, scheduled at Allahabad in January-February next year. "A detailed discussion on the preparations for Mahakumbh 2019 at Allahabad took place.

The NMCG asked the UP government to expedite the process of cleaning all 35 drains in Allahabad that meet river Ganga upstream through bioremediation so that projects could be implemented well before the Mahakumbh begins," the statement said.

Bioremediation is a process by which either naturally occurring or deliberately introduced microorganisms are used to consume and break down environmental pollutants.

The NMCG also urged the state government to focus on tributaries of Ganga and send proposals for Meerut, Moradabad, Saharanpur, Lucknow and Jaunpur so that work on cleaning of tributaries such as Hindon, Ram Ganga, Kali and Gomti may begin at the earliest, the statement said.

The NMCG also raised with the state government the issue of solid waste going into Ganga through drains, it said. "The UP government was requested to direct the urban local bodies along river Ganga to prepare an action plan to provide adequate arrangements in the drains, stretching at least a kilometre from the river's confluence, to tap the solid waste entering into the river," the statement said.

The Composite Ecological Task Force Battalion (Ganga Task Force) project, under the Namami Gange programme, was also discussed during the meeting, it said. A Ganga Task Force will be deputed in Allahabad, Varanasi and Kanpur to assist efforts to rejuvenate the river, the statement added.