New Delhi, October 24
The World Bank has agreed to provide $1 billion for the Mission Clean Ganga being implemented by the National Ganga River Basin Authority (NGRBA) headed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for restoring the “wholesomeness” of the river system by minimising its pollution level, the Centre has informed the Supreme Court.

The first meeting of the authority decided to ensure that no untreated municipal sewage and industrial effluents would be allowed to flow into the Ganga by 2020, Attorney-General and Additional Solicitor-General Mohan Jain informed a three-member Bench headed by Chief Justice SH Kapadia on Friday.

The meeting, chaired by the PM, also approved an action plan to achieve the objectives of the mission that would restore the purity of the Ganga system and improve its ecological health, according to documents submitted to the apex court by the AG and ASG.

Importantly, the mission would use both scientific application of modern tools and technologies and “traditional wisdom”. For this, a joint team comprising postgraduate and doctoral students of all seven Indian Institutes of Technology would prepare a comprehensive river basin management plan. An agreement has been signed recently between the Environment Ministry and the IITs, the SC was informed.

The NGRBA has set up a standing committee headed by Pranab Mukherjee to take quick decisions and periodically review and assess the work. For better coordination and implementation of the conservation activities at the state level, the empowered State Ganga River Conservation Authorities has been notified for all the NGRBA states, Uttarakhand, UP, Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal.