The NEERI, or the National Environmental Engineering Research Institute, has been assigned the duty of studying and analyzing the sediment of river Ganga besides assessing the quality of its water. The river covers a distance of 260 km from Gangasagar to Gangotri, and the NEERI will undertake the study along the stretch. This process will be going on for a period of 15 months following which a report will be submitted to the Ministry of Water Resources and River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation. The importance of the report is that only after receiving it the Government will get started with the Clean Ganga Project.
NEERI to lay the basis of Clean Ganga Project
Considering how important the Clean Ganga Project is to Narendra Modi one can understand the magnitude of the role that the NEERI has been entrusted with. The study is also expected to take cognizance of the condition of the tributaries of river Ganga. Satish Wate, who is the Director of the Nagpur-based organization, has said that even though his organization has the necessary expertise to deal with the new responsibilities, it still presents a significant challenge. The findings will also help the NEERI decide whether it can take up the challenging task of cleaning the river all by itself.
CWC objects to involving Australia in Clean Ganga Project
The Central Water Commission has objected to a proposal to involve Australia in the Clean Ganga Project. It is apprehensive of the possibility that such an association could lead to important information being leaked to India’s neighbouring countries. The area where the CWC is particularly apprehensive of is the model that is being followed for developing the Ganga river basin. Originally this was supposed to be a crucial part of the bilateral cooperation between India and Australia.
Narendra Modi has just visited Australia. He is the first Prime Minister to visit the Aussie shores in 28 years – the last time that an Indian PM did so was in 1986 when the late Rajiv Gandhi went Down Under. All these facts make the visit a historic one. Regarding the supposed collaboration between India and Australia it is now being stated that rejuvenation of Ganga was never a part of the bilateral agreement of the two countries. Incidentally, both the countries had signed a treaty for cooperating on water resources during 2009. It was renewed this year during September.
The Prime Minister of Australia, Tony Abbott, had visited India three months back. The CWC is the leading technical body in the country when it comes to water resources. Its chairman has sent across the note of objection to Uma Bharti. Some officers in the organization are also of the opinion that any association in this regard could very well jeopardize the water security of India at large. As per the proposed plan of cooperation Australia would have helped India create the model and master plan for cleaning up the river. It would have also helped in developing the hydrological cloud and share data. Also in the pipeline were plans for making study tours to Australia.
