Read here the initiatives taken for pollution-free Ganga at Varanasi

Varanasi, October 20: Ganga is not only our national river but also a symbol of India’s heritage. But due to excess pollution, the river started to lose its beauty. The government of India after taking Namami Ganga Programme, now the river banks of Ganga, especially in Varanasi, now has cleaner Ghats. Now an all-encompassing approach has been employed to arrest pollution flowing into the river.

On the sewage management front, Varanasi town currently generates an estimated 300 MLD of sewage, which is expected to increase to 390 MLD by 2030. From the current capacity of three existing sewage treatment plants – Dinapur, Bhagwanpur and DLW, only 102 MLD of sewage are being treated while the remaining flows directly into river Ganga through Varuna and Assi rivers. To bridge this gap, a 140 MLD STP at Dinapur and a 120 MLD STP at Goitha are being constructed under Japan International Co-operation Agency (JICA) assisted project and JNNURM scheme respectively. These projects are at advanced stage of construction and will be commissioned before March 2018

Pumping stations:

In addition, the works on interceptor sewers for rivers Varuna and Assi, development of three pumping stations at Chauka ghat, Phulwaria and Saraiya, rehabilitation of old trunk sewers and rehabilitation of ghat pumping stations and existing STPs are also underway to improve the entire sewage management infrastructure in Varanasi.

Renovation of Dhobi Ghats:

In a bid to arrest the pollution from cloth washing activities on ghats, four dhobi ghats – Pandeypur, Nadesar, Bhavania Pokhran and Konia - have already been renovated while construction of three other at Bazardiha, Machodari Slaughter House and Bhawania Pokhri (extension) is underway. Whereas several users of the dhobi community have shifted to the new ghats, much more are being pursued the same.