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The new authority will replace current piecemeal efforts to clean up the Ganga with an integrated approach
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, on February 17, 2009, approved a notification for setting up the Ganga River Basin Authority for comprehensive management of the river basin. The framework for the proposed authority was finalised at a meeting chaired by T K A Nair, principal secretary to the prime minister, with the chief secretaries of the Ganga basin states of Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Jharkhand. West Bengal was represented by its principal secretary, department of environment. “The five states unanimously endorsed the proposal, based on which the Ministry of Environment and Forests will issue the notification under the Environment Protection Act,” said a release from the prime minister’s office. The setting up of the authority will help replace current piecemeal efforts to clean up the Ganga with an integrated approach that sees the river as an ecological entity. It will also help address issues of quantity in terms of water flow. The authority, chaired by the prime minister, will consist of the chief ministers of Ganga basin states as members along with related central government ministers. Source: Indo Asian News Service, February 17, 2009
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