Centre launches ‘Ganga Gram’ project

Speed Post News Network

New Delhi : The Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation (MDWS) on December 23, 2017, launched ‘Ganga Gram’, a project for sanitation based integrated development of all 4,470 villages along the River Ganga, at a multi-stakeholder conference held at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi.

The Ganga Gram Swachhta Sammelan was attended by more than 1,400 delegates including 500 village sarpanchs from all five Ganga States (Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal).

Speaking on the occasion, Minister for Water Resources, Ganga Rejuvenation and River Development Nitin Gadkari appealed to the village sarpanchs to pledge unconditional support to making River Ganga and Ganga Grams ‘swachh’. Highlighting the various Government interventions towards making the Ganga ‘Nirmal’, Gadkari, announced that funds will be generated from NRIs to support the various Ganga projects, according to a PIB release.

Introducing the Ganga Gram Project, Parmeswaran Iyer, Secretary, MDWS, underlined that Ganga Gram vision is an integrated approach for holistic development of villages situated on the banks of River Ganga with active participation of the villagers. After achieving ODF target in Ganga villages, implementation of solid and liquid waste management and other integrated activities are remaining tasks.

Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation is the nodal agency for implementation of the Ganga Gram Project. Since the launch of Swachh Bharat Mission in October 2014, the Ministry has constructed 5.72 crore toilets and has made 2.96 lakh villages, 262 districts, 6 States and 2 Union Territories, Open Defecation Free (ODF).