Dr. Syama Prasad Mookerjee Research Foundation

PM’s address at inauguration of six mega projects under Namami Gange in Uttarakhand

  • Today, 6 mega projects have been launched to ensure the cleanliness of the mother Ganga. It also includes projects such as sewage treatment plants and museums in Haridwar, Rishikesh, Badrinath and Muni ki Reti. I congratulate all my friends of Uttarakhand for all these projects.
  • Friends, A short while ago, the beautiful logo and the Mission Guide of Jal Jeevan Mission have also been released. Jal Jeevan Mission is a massive campaign to deliver potable water to every household in the villages.
  • The logo of the mission will constantly inspire us about the necessity to save every drop of water. At the same time, this guide is as important for the people of the village & gram panchayat as is necessary for the government machinery. It is a great means of ensuring the success of the project.
  • Friends, It has also been explained in detail in the book which has been released today, how Ganga is a great symbol of our cultural splendour, faith and heritage. The Ganges enriches the lives of nearly half of the country’s population, from its origins in Uttarakhand to Ganga Sagar in West Bengal.
  • Therefore the cleanliness of the Ganges is necessary; the uninterrupted flow of Ganga ji is necessary. In the previous decades, massive campaigns were started for cleaning the Ganga water.
  • But there was neither public participation nor foresightedness in those campaigns. As a result, the water of the Ganges could never be clean.
  • Friends, If the same old methods were adopted for the cleanliness of the Ganges water, the situation would have been equally poor today. But we moved forward with a new thinking and a new approach.
  • We have not limited the Namami Gange Mission to the cleanliness of Ganga ji, but have turned it into the largest and the most comprehensive river conservation programme in the country.
  • The government is working with a four pronged strategy simultaneously. First – we have started laying a network of Sewage Treatment Plants to prevent the polluted water from flowing into the Ganges.
  • Secondly, building such sewage treatment plants that can meet the needs of the next 10-15 years; thirdly, to make hundred big cities/towns and five thousand villages situated on the banks of river Ganga free from open defecation and fourth- using all means to stop the pollution of Ganga ji’s tributaries.
  • Friends, Today we are all witnessing the results of this comprehensive approach. Today, projects worth more than Rs 30,000 crores are either underway or have been completed under the Namami Gange programme.
  • Today, besides the projects which have been launched, almost all the major projects in Uttarakhand under this campaign have been completed.
  • These projects worth thousands of crores have increased the capacity of sewage treatment in Uttarakhand by almost 4 times in just 6 years.
  • Friends, The situation in Uttarakhand was such that waste water from more than 130 drains of Gangotri, Badrinath, Kedarnath and Haridwar used to flow into Ganga ji.
  • Today most of these drains have been plugged. It also includes the Chandreshwar Nagar drain of ‘Muni ki Reti’ adjacent to Rishikesh. Visitors to Gangaji or rafters used to face a lot of trouble due to this drain.
  • The first four-storey Sewage Treatment Plant of the country has been inaugurated here today. In Haridwar too, more than 20 such drains have been closed. Friends, Ganga ji’s cleanliness was experienced by devotees from all over the world in Prayagraj Kumbh.
  • Now during the Haridwar Kumbh, the whole world will have the experience of bathing in the clean Ganges. And constant efforts are going on for the same.
  • Friends, Under the Namami Gange Mission, hundreds of ghats on Gangaji are being beautified and construction of modern riverfront for Ganga Vihar is also being done.
  • The riverfront in Haridwar is ready. Now, with the setting up of the Ganga Museum, this place is going to become even more attractive.
  • This museum is going to be a medium for tourists visiting Haridwar to understand the heritage associated with Ganga.