For conservation and rejuvenation of rivers, this Ministry has been supplementing efforts of the States/Union Territories (UTs) by providing financial and technical assistance for abatement of pollution in identified stretches of rivers in the country through the Central Sector Scheme of Namami Gange for Ganga and its tributaries, and the Centrally Sponsored Scheme of National River Conservation Plan (NRCP) for other rivers. Sewerage infrastructure and setting up of sewage treatment plants (STPs) in polluting towns/cities along the rivers is one of the important components of these programs.
In addition, Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change (MoEF&CC) has recently released Detailed Project Reports (DPRs) for rejuvenation of 13 major rivers prepared by Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education (ICFRE), Dehradun in consultation with the State Forest Departments and other line Departments. These rivers are Jhelum, Chenab, Ravi, Beas, Sutlej, Yamuna, Brahmaputra, Luni, Narmada, Godavari, Mahanadi, Krishna and Cauvery. The proposed outlay in these 13 DPRs is Rs. 19,342.62 crore under 4 major components viz: implementation of forestry interventions, strengthening knowledge management & national capacity development, maintenance phase including scaling-up replication of successful models, and national coordination for forestry Interventions & river conservation. The works are expected to be executed through the concerned State Forest Departments.
Works proposed under these DPRs include afforestation on river banks leading to increased green cover, measures to contain soil erosion, recharge ground water table, sequester carbon dioxide, catchment area treatment, ecological restoration, moisture conservation, livelihood improvement & income generation, ecotourism by developing river fronts, eco-parks and bringing awareness amongst the masses for improvement of water quality & flow in rivers. It is expected that after implementation of proposed activities in the DPRs, ground water recharge would be to the tune of 1,889.89 million cubic metre per year and sedimentation reduction would be to the tune of 64,83,114 million cubic metre per year, which is likely to provide benefit for drinking water and irrigation.
This Information was given by the Minister of State for Jal Shakti, Shri Bishweswar Tudu in a written reply in Rajya Sabha today.