Context: Recently, the World Bank has approved a five year loan (for the second phase) to the National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) or Namami Gange Project worth Rs.3,000 crore to help stem pollution in the Ganga river basin.
Key Points

• The First Phase: The Namami Gange has already received Rs. 4,535 crore from the World Bank as part of the first phase (valid until December 2021) of the National Ganga River Basin.

The Second Phase:

• Hybrid Annuity Projects: The loan would fund three new ‘Hybrid Annuity Projects’ in Agra, Meerut and Saharanpur, Uttar Pradesh for the tributaries of the Ganga.
• Cleaning Projects: Some of the projects include spillover projects from the first phase of the mission as well cleaning projects in tributaries such as the Yamuna and Kali rivers.
• DBOT Projects: Rs.1,209 crore is provided for the ongoing DBOT (Design, Build, Operate and Transfer) projects in Buxar, Munger, Begusarai in Bihar.
• Other Initiatives: It would include institutional development, improving investment resilience to Covid-19 like emergency situations, performance based incentive for Urban Local Bodies and communication and management programmes.

Associated Challenges
Pollution

• Most of the Ganga is polluted and it is due to presence of five states on the river’s main stem i.e. Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Bihar and West Bengal.
• Industrial pollution from tanneries in Kanpur, distilleries, paper and sugar mills in the Kosi, Ramganga and Kali river catchments are major contributors.
• Violation of e-Flow Norms According to the Central Water Commission (CWC), 4 of the 11 hydro power projects on the upper reaches of the river Ganga’s tributaries are violating Ganga ecological flow (e-flow) norms which is further interrupting the natural flow of the river.
• Illegal Construction: The problem of illegal and rampant construction near river beds has become a major hurdle in cleaning the river.
• Poor Governance: There is less utilisation of funds allotted under the programmes due to lack of monitoring and superviison.

Additional Facts

• National Ganga River Basin project: It is a World Bank assisted project approved in the year 2011.
• Aim: To help rejuvenate the Ganga River by helping stem river pollution, and strengthening the management of the river basin.
• Namami Gange: It was launched in 2014.It is an Integrated Conservation Mission under the Ministry of Jal Shakti.
• Aim: To achieve effective abatement of pollution, conservation and rejuvenation of National River Ganga.
• Main Pillars: a) Sewerage Treatment Infrastructure b) River surface Cleaning c) Afforestation d) Industrial Effluent Monitoring, e) River-Front Development f) Biodiversity g) Ganga Gram and h) Public Awareness.
• National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG): It has been established as an Authority under National Council for River Ganga (Rejuvenation, Protection and Management) Act, 2016.
• It is the implementing agency of the Namami Gange Programme at the national level.