Speed Post News Network
New Delhi : Picking up pace, projects worth nearly Rs 1,900 crore have been approved by the Executive Committee (EC) of National Mission for Clean Ganga. Out of 20 projects ,which were given EC approval at its meeting held on March 2, 2017, 13 are in Uttarakhand that includes creating new sewage treatment plants, upgrading existing STPs and laying of sewage networks in Haridwar at an estimated cost of Rs 415 crore.
Haridwar, one of the holiest cities of India, is thronged by millions of people every year. This approved plan is aimed at treating sewage water generated by not only city’s 1.5 lakh local dwellers, but also by people who visit the holy place for various purposes. All these projects will be fully funded by the Central Government including even the expenditure on operation and maintenance of these projects, according to a PIB release. Among other projects approved in Uttarakhand are four pertaining to pollution abatement works for river Alakananda to ensure cleaner flow of the river downstream.
In the National Capital, a project to construct new state-of-the-art 564 MLD Okhla sewage treatment plant with best effluent standards has also been approved at an estimated cost of Rs 665 crore, which will replace the existing STPs phase-I, II, III and IV. Besides, two projects for laying new sewage pipelines in Pitampura and Kondli to prevent leakage have also been approved at an estimated cost of over Rs 100 crore.
Sewage related works at Karmalichak, Patna, and Rajmahal in Jharkhand have also been given green signal for a cost of over Rs 335 crore, according to the PIB release. To address the issue of pollution of Ganga in Varanasi, a city thronged by millions of pilgrims throughout the year, a project under Hybrid-Annuity PPP model worth almost Rs 151 crore has also been given EC approval.