Namami Gange projects for cleaning river Ganga launched simultaneoulsy at nearly 250 places

Namami Gange programme for cleaning of river Ganga was launched today from Haridwar. Simultaneous programmes were launched at many other places also for cleaning of Ganga and its tributaries from Gangotri to Howrah. Inaugurating the main programme organized at Haridwar, Minister of Water Resources Uma Bharati said, the cleaning up of Ganga from Gangotri to Ganga Sagar will be completed by 2018. She said, projects under Namami Gange involve modernization and redevelopment of Ghats and crematoriums, development of sewage infrastructure and treatment, afforestation, tree plantation, pilot drain project, interceptor drain project, trash skimmers and conservation of biodiversity. Referring to Ganga Gram Yojana, Ms Bharti said, 400 villages along the river will be developed as Ganga Gram in phase-I. Thirteen IITs have adopted five villages each for development as Ganga Grams. Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari, Minister of Tourism and Culture Mahesh Sharma and Chief Minister of Uttarakhand Harish Rawat were also present on the occasion.