Project Arth Ganga

Image Source - Piv.gov.in

The National Mission for Clean Ganga's Director General recently discussed the Arth Ganga approach during World Water Week 2022.

Key Features of the project

• The term "Arth Ganga" alludes to a sustainable development paradigm with an emphasis on Gang-related economic activity.
• The idea was initially presented by PM Modi at the inaugural National Ganga Council meeting in Kanpur in 2019 when he pushed for a switch from Namami Gange to the Arth Ganga model.

The government is focusing on six verticals under Arth Ganga:

• The first is Zero Budget Natural Farming, which encourages the use of cow dung as fertiliser through the Gobardhan initiative and chemical-free farming for 10 km on either side of the river.
• The second strategy, called Monetization and Reuse of Sludge and Wastewater, aims to repurpose cleaned water for agriculture, industry, and the generating of income for Urban Local Bodies (ULBs)
• The third goal is to improve public participation by strengthening the relationships between the many river stakeholders.
• Through boat tourism, adventure sports, and yoga classes, the model also hopes to enhance the cultural history and tourism of Ganga and its surroundings.
• Last but not least, the concept aims to encourage institutional building by strengthening local government for better water governance.

World Water Week

• Every year during the last week of August, a conference called World Water Week is conducted to discuss global water challenges.
• It was first introduced in 1991 as a component of a public water festival in Stockholm, the capital of Sweden.
• International Water Week is put on by the Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI).
• Exploring the water implications of problems like climate catastrophe, food security, energy, and other issues is possible during World Water Week.
• The week is also used as a chance to talk about and move the Sustainable Development Goal 6 (SDG6), which is about providing everyone with access to clean water and sanitation, forward.
• World Water Week 2022 will have as its subject "Seeing the Unseen: The Value of Water."
• The theme will look at three main areas: the value of water among people and for development, the value of water with respect to nature and climate change, and the economic and financial value of water.

Namami Gange Programme

• The Union Government designated the Namami Gange Programme as a "Flagship Program" in June 2014 to achieve the twin goals of effective pollution reduction and protection and revitalization of the National River Ganga.
• It is run by the Ministry of Jal Shakti's Department of Water Resources, River Development, and Ganga Rejuvenation.
• The National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) and its state counterpart organisations, State Initiative Management Groups, are in charge of carrying out the programme (SPMGs).
• The National Ganga Council's implementation division is known as NMCG (set in 2016, which replaced the National Ganga River Basin Authority - NGRBA).
• It consists of almost 288 projects with a Rs 20,000 crore centrally supported, non-lapsable corpus.

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