Ganga Action Plan – Background
1. Water pollution problem, especially of river water, has been rising continuously
because of industrialization along the river stretches, open defecation and
many other issues.
2. This problem is manifested in the dire state of Ganga river. Efforts have been
made in this regard since 1985 with the launch of the Ganga Action Plan (GAP).
3. The idea of cleaning river Ganga was initiated by the Government of India in
1979, however, the Ganga Action Plan could only be initiated in 1985 after a
comprehensive survey of the river Ganga by CPCB. Know more on the Central
Pollution Control Board (CPCB) on the linked page.
Ganga Action Plan Overview
1. Ganga action plan was started in 1986 with the objective of pollution
abatement from river Ganga.
2. GAP – Ganga Action Plan is a 100% centrally sponsored scheme. Under this
plan, the National River Ganga basin authority was established and declared
Ganga as a national river of India. Read more on the National River Ganga on
the page linked here.
3. Ganga Action Plan was directed by Rajiv Gandhi. The authority is headed by
the prime minister and chief ministers of all the states in which river Ganga
flows.
4. GAP was divided into two phases. Phase-I started in 1985 and covered the then
three states, Uttar Pradesh (UP), Bihar and West Bengal (WB).
5. Phase-II of GAP was launched in 1993, which covers seven states that
include Uttarakhand, UP, Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Delhi and Haryana.
6. In the second phase, Ganga action plan was created for all these tributaries.
The national river conservation plan was started under the same program for
the 2nd phase.
7. It included tributaries of Ganga as well like Yamuna, Mahananda, Gomti,
Damodar.
8. The Ministry of Environment and forests (MoEF) was made in charge of the
overall design and implementation of GAP. Central Ganga Authority (CGA)
came into existence under the Environment Protection Act 1986, headed by the
Prime Minister of India.
In 2014 the present government started Namami Gange Mission to ensure
clean Ganga. Namami Gange Yojana is implemented by the National
Mission for Clean Ganga along with its State Programme Management
Groups (SPMGs). Union Finance Minister, Arun Jaitley announced the
implementation of Namami Gange on 10 July 2014.
The National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) was implemented by the
National Council for Rejuvenation, Protection and Management of River
Ganga also known as the National Ganga Council. To know more about
the National Ganga Council, refer to the linked page. The NMCG mission
was established on 12th August 2011 under the Societies Registration
Act,1860 as a registered society. Read in detail about the National Mission
for Clean Ganga on the given link.
Government schemes are an important part of the UPSC syllabus.
Aspirants must be thorough with the objectives and the activities of these
major schemes for the IAS exam.
Ganga Action Plan – Objectives
The GAP was aimed at controlling the pollution of the most significant river
in a systematic and planned manner.
1. The objective, at the time of launching the Ganga Action Plan in 1985, was to
improve the water quality of Ganga to acceptable standards by preventing
the pollution load from reaching the river.
2. The Ganga Action Plan gave importance to abate pollution and improve water
quality. With the major focus in GAP I on sewage interception and treatment
facilities.
3. It also gave importance to conserve biodiversity, developing an integrated
river basin management approach, conducting comprehensive research to
further these objectives, and gaining experience for implementing similar river
clean-up programs in other polluted rivers in India.
4. Besides abatement of pollution Ganga action plan had the broad objective of
restoration of biodiversity along the course of river Ganga
