Govt planning to penalise those found guilty of polluting Ganga

New Delhi: The Narendra Modi-government is planning to penalise those found guilty of polluting the Ganga river, in a first of its kind bill which aims to ensure cleanliness and uninterrupted flow of the river.

The Ganga act is being prepared by a panel headed by Justice Girdhar Malviya, and once it is being finalised the bill will be taken up the Union Cabinet, Water Resources Minister Uma Bharti told reporters here.

"I want to ensure ensure cleanliness (Nirmalta) and uninterrupted flow (avirlta) of Ganga from its origin till its submerge into sea. Therefore, there will be provisions to punish and penalise those founded guilty of polluting or checking the flow of this holy river," Bharti said.

The Minister added that she has been requesting the committee to submit its report for the Ganga act at the earliest so that the law could be implemented.

In July last year Union Water Resources Ministry had formed a committee which besides Malviya also includes former secretary, Legislative department V K Bhasin, IIT Delhi Professor A K Gosain, IIT Roorkee Professor Nayan Sharma, and Director of National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) Sundeep.

The Union Water Resources Ministry is the nodal agency in charge of implementing the Rs 20,000-crore for NMCG by 2022.

This is an umbrella programme to ensure effective abatement of pollution and conservation of the river Ganga and all its tributaries.

Besides Ganga, pollution abatement work is being also taken up on certain tributaries like Ramganga, Kali and Yamuna.

The NMCG, which has been executing the Centre's ambitious Namami Gange programme, was elevated to the level of an 'authority' from a society in September this year.